Raipur, A group of 850 pilgrims from Rajnandgaon and Durg districts will depart tomorrow, September 3, for the darshan of Lord Shri Ram and the journey to Ayodhya Dham, Kashi Vishwanath. Tourism, Culture and Religious Affairs Minister Shri Rajesh Agrawal will flag off this special train going to Ayodhya Dham and Kashi Vishwanath at 11:20 am at Rajnandgaon railway station. This group of 850 devotees includes passengers from Durg and Bastar divisions. Minister Shri Rajesh Agrawal will depart from Rajnandgaon by the special train of pilgrims and will come to Durg and from here he will meet the pilgrims going for Ayodhya Dham darshan and send them off with best wishes.
It is noteworthy that the Chhattisgarh government is operating the Shri Ramlala Ayodhya Dham Darshan Yojana, under which the citizens of the state are provided with the darshan of Lord Shri Ram along with free travel to Ayodhya Dham and Kashi Vishwanath. This scheme was started on March 5, 2024. Under this scheme, more than 28 thousand people of the state have benefited from the free travel to Ayodhya Dham so far. This is the second phase of the journey from Rajnandgaon to Ayodhya Dham. The Chhattisgarh government arranges for the travel, stay and food etc. of the devotees going for pilgrimage under the Shri Ram Lalla Ayodhya Dham Darshan Yojana.
In the brief program organized on the occasion of the departure of the special train from Rajnandgaon to Ayodhya Dham, Rajnandgaon MP Shri Santosh Pandey, Mayor Shri Madhusudan Yadav, former MP Shri Ashok Sharma, MLA Shri Ishwar Sahu, Shri Doman Lal Korsevada, District Panchayat President Shri Kiran Vaishnav, IRCTC, senior officials of the Railway District Administration and Chhattisgarh Tourism Board will be present.
On the arrival of this special train at Durg station, the devotees will be welcomed in the presence of Tourism, Culture and Religious Affairs Minister Shri Rajesh Agrawal and Minister School Education and Village Industries, Government of Chhattisgarh Shri Gajendra Yadav. From Durg station, this train will be flagged off for its destination by the two ministers along with Durg MP Shri Vijay Baghel, MLA Durg Rural Shri Lalit Chandrakar, Mayor Durg Smt. Alka Baghmare, MLA Saja Shri Ishwar Sahu, MLA Ahirwara Shri Doman Lal Korsevada and other public representatives.
It is noteworthy that due to the special initiative of Shri Nilu Sharma, President of Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, the opportunity to go to Ayodhya Dham for darshan by special train for the second time from Rajnandgaon has become available. This has made it easier for the pilgrims of Durg and Bastar divisions.