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Enjoy a Pilgrim cum Luxury Trip on the Buddhist Tourist Train

IRCTC, a division of Indian Railways, has initiated a new travel program with special departure dates for passengers interested to learn more about the Buddhist spiritualism.  The Buddhist tourist train is designated as the Mahaparinirvan Express takes you through Buddhist India that existed more than 2500 years ago. Mahaparinirvana Sutra is the place where Buddha preached his final discourse of teachings. The journey covers several of the Buddhist pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Gaya, Sarnath, Shravasti, Agra, etc.

Features of the train:

The Buddhist tourist train is an ideal and comfortable transportation where both Indians and foreign tourists. It is not exactly a luxury train like the other IRCTC operated luxury trains. The focus here is to provide comfortable accommodation during the 8 days of travel. The compartments are those that are generally used in Rajdhani Express.

The train has a kitchen where fresh food is prepared under strict hygienic conditions. The bathroom cubicles have showers. Passengers are welcomed with garlands and given an educative Buddhist guidebook. It is a guided tour and the in-city tours are all by airconditioned coaches. The tour escorts speak both English and Hindi.

The Buddhist tourist train itinerary, costs, and departures:

The first departure is in the last week of September and ends in the last week of March. The tour is of 7nights/8 days and costs Rs. 76,800 per person for AC 1st class and Rs. 62,850 for 2nd AC. Passengers can opt for short tours with select places so long as they reserve for a minimum of 3 nights. For the shorter tours travel by AC 1st Class costs Rs. 10,980 per night while in AC 2nd Class it is Rs. 8,980 per night per person.

GST is included in the tour cost although visa fees if applicable for India and Nepal are not included. Liquor, beverages, laundry, medicines, transfers are not included in the tour costs. IRCTC is offering a discount of 10% on the net fare excluding GST and any other tax on the tour cost provided the booking is done before 6th October. 72 guests can be accommodated in the AC1st class while the 2nd AC coach has a capacity for 92 guests.

The Buddhist tourist train starts and culminates at Safdarjung railway station at New Delhi in the afternoon.

Day 2 has a stop at Gaya. Visit Bodhgaya temple.

Day 3 covers Rajgir and Nalanda

Day 4 in Varanasi, Sarnath. Visit the holy Ganges river for an Aarti in the evening

Day 5 covers Kushinagar

Day 6 a full day trip to Lumbini in Nepal

Day 7 in Gonda visiting Shravasti

Day 8 in Agra visiting Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri etc. Return to Delhi Safdarjung railway station by 6.00PM.

Other amenities in the tour

The Buddhist tourist train includes full day trips by road in some cases. Due to the intensive climatic conditions, foreign tourists sometimes find it difficult to cope up. The operators provide breaks in between at nearby hotel where the passengers can freshen up. The train is well maintained, cleaned each day, linen changed every morning. Food includes both Indian, European, and American cuisines.

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Planning A Buddhist Circuit Tour Itinerary Is Easy When You Know How The spread of Buddhism all over the world has seen a giant spurt in the number of travellers that seek visiting all the important places in Lord Buddha’s life.

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Book a Ticket on the Buddhist Circuit Special Train to Enjoy a Grand Tour of Popular Buddhist Destinations

For travelers who are keen to enjoy a tour of famous Buddhist tourist destination, there are now many options offered by Indian Railways. One of these options is the Buddhist Circuit special train, which has been introduced specifically for Buddhist pilgrimage site tours. The IRCTC site is easy to access and you can get your tickets for this special train on the site; you can even avail of attractive discount offers on the packages from time to time.

Why should you book a trip on the Buddhist Circuit special train?  The Buddhist Circuit special train offers a one-of-a-kind train journey experience, taking Buddhist pilgrims to many popular Buddhist destinations. It is well equipped with all modern amenities like AC coaches and caters only to tourists who have booked tickets through the IRCTC website. This makes the Buddhist Circuit a special train for only Buddhist pilgrims.

 When you have bought tickets on the Buddhist Circuit special train, you can enjoy a package which will include almost all iconic destinations where Buddha had lived or preached or meditated in. These are all picturesque places and you can even take a tour of cities like New Delhi and Agra on such tours. So, the places which are usually covered include Nalanda, Varanasi, Sravasti, Sarnath, Rajgir, Lumbini, Kushinagar and Bodhgaya.  Besides the travel on this Buddhist Circuit special train, the tours offered by the IRCTC will also include road transport to different sightseeing attractions by AC coaches. The packages even include entrance fees for the different monuments that tourists may visit, fees for the escorts accompanying them on such excursions, and travel insurance coverage. But, visa fees for traveling to India and Nepal will not be covered in this package for those coming from outside. Even hotel accommodations for tourists in Delhi either before the trip starts or once it is over will not be part of the package. Air fare for the passengers booking tickets on this special train is also not included in the package.  The best part about booking a holiday on such special trains provided by the IRCTC is that this is an exclusive tour. The train will be an exclusive train meant only for the Buddhist pilgrims and will not include passengers who have not booked their tickets on the IRCTC website.  The train offers high end security for all passengers because there are armed guards in every AC coach and they will keep a close watch on passenger security and wellbeing. Passengers also do not have to worry about the hygienic conditions of the coaches or the quality of meals served on board. Whether you wish to eat vegetarian food or non vegetarian food, cold drinks or snacks, you will find them all on the train. The showers and washrooms for the passengers are maintained well and are completely hygienic.  Even the hotels that are booked for the passengers on board the Buddhist Circuit special train will be comfortable for them. Passengers can also depend on the tour organizers for emergency medical aid. There are usually helpful guides provided on such tours who are well versed in English for passenger benefit.

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Buddha Religious Tours - With The Buddhist Special Train

Buddha Religion or Buddhism

The Buddha religion or Buddhism, is a cult and philosophy, that was later turned into a religion. This Buddhism is based on the teachings of Gautam Buddha.

Buddha is a Sanskrit word, which means the Enlightened One or the Awakened One. Gautam Buddha belonged to northern part of India, somewhere between mid-6th and mid-4th BCE or before the common era. This was a period of great social change, which resulted into intense religious activities.

Gautam Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism, was a prince of Lumbini state, in Nepal. He migrated to the northern and eastern parts of India and continued his search of truth. He ultimately attained his enlightenment at Bodhgaya, a place near Gaya district, which is in the state of Bihar, at the eastern part of India.

Gautam Buddha himself and his disciples travelled to far parts of India, to spread the message of Buddhism among common people. They visited places at Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and all these places Gautam Buddha visited and gave his teachings, later developed as pilgrims of Buddhism and a pilgrimage for Buddhists.

Some Important Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites in India

The main focus of Gautam Buddha and his disciples travelling and giving their preaching were limited to the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, during the lifetime of Gautam Buddha. The main reason behind this limited area of their travelling could be absence of availability of fast transportation during those days and Gautam Buddha and his disciples always travelled on foot.

The main sites of Buddhist pilgrimage in India are as below-

·         Bodh Gaya- It is situated in the state of Bihar, near the district of Gaya. It is a most important Buddhist pilgrimage because Gautam Buddha attained his enlightenment here.

·         Saranath- Saranath is a Buddhist pilgrimage where Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon, after he attained his enlightenment. Saranath his situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh, and this place is just at the outside of city of Varanasi.

·         Kushinagar- Kushinagar is situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. It was Kushinagar where Gautam Buddha has his Parinirvana or Maha Prayana, or the place where he died.

These three are among the four holiest sites in Buddhist pilgrimage. The fourth being in Lumbini, in the country of Nepal. Lumbini is the place where Gautam Buddha was born.

There are a number of different Buddhist pilgrimage sites in different states in India, apart from the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. These are at Sanchi, in the state of Madhya Pradesh and also in the state of Maharashtra, in Arunachal, in Sikkim, in Himachal Pradesh, in Ladakh and in the state of Karnataka.

Buddhist Religious Tour with the Buddhist Special Train

The Maha Parinirvana Express Train or the Buddhist Train is a special tourist train. This train takes its passengers to all the main Buddhist pilgrimages, in the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

This train takes its passengers to Lumbini, where Gautam Buddha was born, to Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment, to Saranath in Varanasi, where he gave his first ever sermon and to Kushinagar, where he passed away and achieved Maha nirvana.

This train tour is a specially designed tour taking care of all passenger’s convenience and comfort. This tour organises the passenger’s visit to hotels to freshen up and to get a brief rest, during the journey, or for some overnight stay, if situation demands.

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May the full moon of #Buddha #Purnima conquer the darkness of prejudice and hatred to herald an era of peace and enlightenment for us. IRCTC wishes Happy Buddha Purnima with the announcement fixed departures of Buddhist Circuit Tourist Train, logon to http://irctcbuddhisttrain.com

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Glimpse the eternal peace attained by the #Buddha! His awe-inspiring 5th-century six-meter long statue in the reclining position graces the #Mahaparinirvana Temple at #Kushinagar, an integral part of the #IRCTC #Buddhist Circuit. To know more log on to: http://www.irctcbuddhisttrain.com/