It was a night to recollect for the Sikh neighborhood because the Railways flagged off Guru Kripa Yatra train from Lucknow Junction connecting five sacred Takhats throughout India, on Wednesday.
The train was flagged off by Jaiveer Singh, minister of tourism and tradition, U.P. together with Baldev Singh Aulakh, minister of state for agriculture, agricultural schooling and agricultural analysis.
Because the particular vacationer train was set to start its first journey, Sikh vacationers together with their households have been seen excitedly boarding the newly launched train decked up with garlands and balloons.
The ladies vacationers have been garlanded by former Lucknow mayor Sanyukta Bhatia earlier than they boarded the train.
“We’re very excited to set off on our journey. This was lengthy due as earlier we needed to journey to completely different Takhats individually however with this train, now we’ll have the ability to go to all five Takhts at one time,” mentioned Surendra Singh, a resident of New Delhi who’s going to journey together with his spouse, Diljeet Kaur.
“The train appears fantastic from inside with all trendy amenities. Seats are made in such a approach that we are able to even do kirtan and bhajan right here,” mentioned Divendra Singh, one other vacationer from Ludhiana.
“The train is launched underneath ‘Bharat Gaurav’ and is the primary Bharat Gaurav train of North Japanese Railways,” mentioned Pankaj Singh, CPRO, NER.
Addressing the operate, Jaiveer Singh thanked PM Modi and congratulated the folks of the nation. “By means of this train, folks will get a possibility to get acquainted with the wonderful cultural heritage, historic cities and non secular locations,” he mentioned.
Baldev Singh Aulakh too expressed his gratitude to PM Modi and mentioned, “For Sikhs devotees, this spiritual place is like Char Dham. Throughout this yatra, the pilgrims will go to Keshgarh Sahib Gurdwara and Virasat-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, Gurudwara Patalpuri Sahib at Kiratpur Sahib, Gurudwara Fatehgarh Sahib at Sirhind, Akal Takht and Golden Temple in Amritsar, Damdama Sahib at Bathinda, Nanded Takht Sachkhand Hazur Sahib, Gurudwara Shri Guru Nanak Jheera Sahib in Bidar and Gurudwara Harmandirji Sahib in Patna amongst others. With the operation of this train, together with Sikh devotees, folks of different faiths may journey thus giving a message of brotherhood,” he added.
“The train begins from Lucknow and stops at main centres of Sikh religion. This journey can be of 10 nights and 11 days. There can be a complete of 678 berths having 44 second class AC, 58 third class AC and 576 non-AC sleeper coaches within the train. A devoted Puja house can also be given for vacationers,” mentioned Veer Raman, common supervisor, NER.
Different company who attended the flag-off have been MLA Jai Devi, MLA Dr Neeraj Bora, Sanyukta Bhatia, common supervisor of Trendy Rail Coach Manufacturing unit, Rae Bareli, Prashant Kumar Mishra, divisional railway supervisor, Lucknow, Aditya Kumar, chief public relations officer Pankaj Kumar Singh, amongst others.