Mahaparinirvan Express
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The Buddhist Circuit Train which is popularly known as Mahaparinirvan Express is a tourist train, which was launched by Indian Railway Ministry on March 28 2007, to attract Buddhist pilgrims.
The train takes passengers for 08 days/07 nights on spiritual tour which includes visit of various Buddhist places across Northern India.
History
The train gets its name from the Mahaparinirvana Sutra that includes some of well known episode in the final months of the Buddha. A sacred journey which includes Buddha's visit to various important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, such as Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Varanasi and Kushinagar.
Features and Services
The Mahaparinirvan Express is operated by Indian Railways using carriages from a Rajdhani Express train. This is a fully air conditioned train offering three different classes of travel (first class, two tier, and three tier).
There are limited toilets with showers on the train, but & daily are taken to hotels to freshen up & for brief rest, or at times overnight stay.There is an onboard hygienic kitchen car facility & passengers are served sumptuous hot meals. Packaged drinking water & tea/coffee Service is available free of charge As this train is targeted for pilgrimage tourist, the onboard facilities are limited & far from opulent & cannot be compared to other luxury train tours e.g. Palace On Wheels etc.
See also
- Maharaja Express
- The Golden Chariot
- Deccan Odyssey
- Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
- Fairy Queen
- Palace on Wheels
References
- http://www.indianrail.gov.in/luxury_Train.html
- http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-03-13/patna/27878371_1_buddhist-pilgrims-irctc-rajgir