The Indian Railways has decided to launch a train service that will cover all locations that are linked to the famous Hindu epic Ramayana - a journey that will start from a visit to Ayodhya, the birthplace of Hindu god Ram, and end at Colombo in Sri Lanka, where Sita was held captive by Ravan. With this initiative, the Indian Railways aim to cash in on a huge demand for religious tourism in the country.

The train, which will be called Sri Ramayana Express, would travel from Ayodhya to Colombo via Rameshwaram, an HT report said. The special train intends to cover all those places that have religious relevance to people, especially Hindus. The report says Sri Ramayana Express would take total 16 days to cover the Ramayana circuit that includes all the religious places.

The train would start from Safdarjung station in Delhi for its first destination Ayodhya where people will visit Hanuman Garhi, Ramkot and the Kanak Bhawan Temple. Other major stations to be covered during the journey are Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi, Prayag, Shringaverpur, Chitrakoot, Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram. The railways said it would provide bus service from railway station to religious destination.

For those wishing to complete the last leg of their travel will start from Rameshwaram to Chennai by train, from where they will fly to the Sri Lankan capital. In Sri Lanka, people will visit Ramboda, Nuwara Elliya and Chilaw. An official said the Railways is expecting to earn good revenue from the new trains service. And depending upon the response, the authorities would decide whether the train would travel once or twice a year.(With Inputs from Business Today)