The Indian Railways has added Bhadrachalam in Telangana as one of the destination in its Ramayana circuit of the pilgrim special train.

Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy on Thursday (11 November) expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inclusion of Bhadarchalam as one of the destinations in the Ramayana Circuit of the Pilgrim Special Train of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

“On my request to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to consider Bhadrachalam as a destination, the Prime Minister immediately instructed the Railway Minister to consider this request favorably”, Reddy said.

“The Telugu speaking people across the world, especially from the state of Telangana have expressed their happiness and their gratitude to the Prime Minister of India for adding Bhadrachalam as a destination in the IRCTC’s Ramayana Circuit train," he added.

“Lord Rama enjoys a special place in the heart of the Telugu speaking people in general and the people of the state of Telangana in particular. The Devotees of Lord Rama believe that the Lord along with Goddess Sita Devi and his brother Lakshmana spent close to 10 years of his exile in Panchavati which is in the area surrounding modern day Bhadrachalam. Along with Bhadrachalam, Parnasala, JatayuPaka, Dummugudem and Gunadala in Telangana are very important in the life of Ayodhya Rama,” he added.

Reddy conveyed his regards and congratulated the Ministry of Railways and IRCTC for the successful launch of Ramayana Circuit Train.

The train will start from New Delhi to Rameswaram and stop at various important places associated with the life of Lord Sri Rama.

He said that the Bhadrachalam Sitaramaswamy Temple is known all over the world. The history of the shrine, Ramulavari temple is well known. The festivals held at this shrine before Ugadi to Ramanavami are very popular and the Sita Rama Kalyanam is a blissful event to witness, a Ministry of Culture release said on Thursday (11 November).

Since the aim of the Ramayana Yatra Train is to connect all the important locations of Lord Rama’s journey during his lifetime, the inclusion of Bhadrachalam Road Station (kothagudem station) will complete the Ramayana Circuit, the ministry said.

In a statement, the Railways said that the stoppage of the pilgrim special train in Bhadrachalam will "provide an opportunity to the travelling pilgrims to have a glimpse" of the famous Shree Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple and "know the significance attached with it".