How Northern Railway Gave Shiva The Wanderer The Symbolic Comfort Of A Reserved Seat

Travelling for nearly 19 hours from one abode to another, Lord Shiva set off on a unique journey on a reserved seat in the Kashi Mahakal Express. The train was flagged off by a two time Member of Parliament (MP) from Baba Vishwanath's Varanasi on Sunday.

The train will connect three three Jyotirlingas: Varanasi, Omkareshwar and Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain and will run between two states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Now, the Railway authorities, according to a report in Livemint, could even make the reserved seat for Lord Shiva a permanent feature on the train. The decision has, however, not yet been taken.

The report says: “Seat number 64 in coach B5 was reserved and left vacant for the deity, Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told PTI.”

The MP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is known to be an ardent bhakta of Shiva. Under his government at the Centre, the Kedarnath and Badrinath dhams in Uttarakhand are inching towards sturdier road connectivity, and an ambitious rail project leading to the dhams, with Rishikesh as the first station is in the pipeline.

According to Shiva devotees, symbolic gesture of keeping the seat reserved for the deity indicates the purpose of the journey, which is primarily aimed at shortening the distance between the two abodes of Shiva in the two states.

The train also shortens the distance between Ganga and Kshipra, the two rivers, that have witnessed Indic civilisation and Hindutva flourish and evolve.

The move hasn’t gone down well with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. He has questioned the move of allotting the berth for the “mini-temple in the train” according to a report on the India Today website.

According to the report, Owaisi, earlier today, tweeted a photo of Premable of the Constitution the Prime Minister Office.