Dekho Apna Desh: 'Azadi Ki Amrit Yatra' Special Tour On Bharat Gaurav Train To Commence From Sabarmati Ashram On 22 August

Celebrating the 76th Independence Day, Indian Railways will run the “Azadi Ki Amrit Yatra” special tour on 22 August, a specially designed journey covering destinations associated with India’s freedom struggle.

IRCTC’s special tour is offering to cover Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Salt Memorial at Dandi, Yerawada Jail and Aga Khan Palace in Pune and Jhansi Fort.

The tour will also cover few pilgrimage sites like Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga temple, Shirdi, Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga temple etc.

State-of-the-art deluxe AC tourist train will accommodate a total of 204 tourists. Tourists can board at Delhi, Mathura, Bharatpur and Jaipur while de-boarding stations are Agra Cantt, Mathura and Delhi Railway Station.

IRCTC has also tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways for providing EMI payment option to the customers.

The train tour starting from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station on 22 August, 2023 will be encompassing Ahmedabad, Kevadia and Surat in Gujarat, Pune, Shirdi and Nasik in Maharashtra and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Spanning over eight nights and nine days (8N/9D), the first stop of this train is at Ahmedabad, where Gandhiji lived and was a major epicentre of the freedom movement, where tourists will visit Sabarmati Ashram, Dandi Kutir and Akshardham mandir.

After a night's halt, the train will depart for Ekta Nagar railway station, connecting to the town of Kevadia, home to Sardar Sarovar Dam reservoir on river Narmada and the Statue of Unity.

After an overnight journey on the train, the tourists would be arriving at the second largest city of Gujarat, Surat. The sightseeing of the city would comprise of Sardar Patel Museum at Bardoli and the National Salt Satyagrah Memorial at Dandi Beach.

The next city to follow is Pune, home to freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak where one can still catch glimpses of the freedom struggle like the sprawling Aga Khan Palace — where the Mahatma along with Kasturba Gandhi were held captive during the Quit India Movement, the Yerwada Jail, where eminent revolutionaries like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel were imprisoned and Kesari Wada, the office of Tilak from where he published his revolutionary newspapers — The Kesari in Marathi and English.

After an overnight halt at Pune, the next day the tourists would be visiting the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga — the ancient shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and one of the twelve jyotirlingas situated all over India.

On day seven, the train after an overnight journey would be reaching Shirdi, the town associated with Sai Baba known for his teachings of love and charity.

On completion of the visit, the tourists would be visiting the temple Shani Shingnapur for offering their prayers to the presiding deity Lord Shani and have an overnight stay at Shirdi. The next day the tourists would be proceeding for a visit of Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga.

Later, the tourists would be dropped back to the railway station for onward journey to Jhansi, the last destination before the termination of the tour.

The eponymous Jhansi Fort located at the heart of the city was of the most important centres of resistance to the British rule during the revolt of 1857.

Guests will be travelling roughly 3,600 km in this entire tour by train. The modern deluxe AC tourist train has a host of amazing features including two fine dining restaurants, a contemporary kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor based washroom functions, foot massager and a mini library.

The fully air-conditioned train provides three types of accommodation viz. AC I, AC II and AC III. The train has enhanced security features like CCTV cameras, electronic safes and dedicated security guards appointed for each coach.

Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism.

The package is priced at Rs 31,731 per person in AC-3 Tier, Rs 57,015 per person in AC-2 Tier, Rs 60,881 per person for AC-1 (Cabin) and Rs 68,145 Per Person for AC-1 (Coupe).

The 9-days all inclusive tour package will cover train journey in respective class, night stay at AC hotels, all vegetarian meals, all transfer and sight-seeing in buses, travel insurance and services of guide etc.

All necessary health precautionary measures will be taken care of and IRCTC will make efforts to provide a safe and memorable experience to the guests.