Why bringing Ram and Sita to welcome passengers of Ramayana Express is smart business sense from Indian Railways
Chants of 'Jai Shri Ram' reverberated at the Safdarjung railway station in Delhi on Wednesday, November 15, with people dressed as characters from the epic, Ramayana, welcoming the nearly 800-odd passengers of the first Ramayana Express — a special tourist train to run on the Ramayana circuit.
The introduction of characters from the Ramayana at the Safdarjung station was symbolic because the special tourist train, which will cover locations associated with the Hindu epic, is turning into a new mode of revenue for the Indian Railways, which has already announced the launch of three more Ramayana Express trains.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the travellers were surprised by the arrangements made by the railways and even sought the blessings of 'Hanuman, Sita and Ram'.
Many may question the Indian Railways’ decision to promote myth for tourism, instead of its own rich history.
But let’s face it, nothing sells like religion in this day and age, with identity-based politics taking centre stage.
From the sale of symbols such as prayer beads to the ever-increasing number of religious television channels, holiday tours and so on, religion has without doubt become a commodity. It is being skilfully used by religious entrepreneurs, who combine the skills of preachers and businessmen together.
Why combine religion with tourism?
Studies conducted in 2017 by Lokniti at the Delhi-based Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) show that nearly one in two Indians plan to undertake religious tourism in the next two years and a bigger number reported doing so in the past two years.
A study conducted by Lokniti on religious attitudes, behaviour and practices in 2015 shows that a significant section of the population in all major religious groups in India reported having undertaken religious tourism over the past two years.
If there is real demand for so much religious tourism, it is only logical that the Indian Railways exploits it and gives people a complete, feel-good travel experience.
Myth or superstition, religion and religious tourism sell and the Indian Railways has rightly and thankfully chosen to exploit the financial route, which will help ensure better services — for believers and non-believers, Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
We need to get over the hang-up that any expression of identity — be it ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious — is necessarily divisive.
Religion is not essentially divisive as long as it is not politicised for purposes of polarisation.
We do see numerous advertisements that use religious figures and symbols to appeal to targeted consumers; they are fine as long as they don’t hurt sentiments and create divides.
About 94 per cent of the world’s Hindus live in India. In a 2015 Pew Research Center survey, eight in 10 Indians said religion is very important in their lives.
Indian Railways is thus playing smart by trying to tap into this large base of consumers of its services.
Fares and facilities
Now that we have settled the question of whether it is okay for Indian Railways to commodify religion at all, let’s take a look at what one needs to shell out to be part of this yatra and what the yatra offers.
The pilgrimage circuit of Shri Ramayana Yatra will have two travel components — one each in India and Sri Lanka.
The tour package, which will be of 16 days will spread across India and Sri Lanka, covering four destinations. The all-inclusive tour package will include all meals, sight-seeing arrangements, accommodation as well as wash and change facilities in dharmashalas and all transfers.
The tour package will also include a dedicated tour manager of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, who will be travelling with the tourists during the entire journey.
In India, after leaving Delhi, Shri Ramayana Express will make its first stop in Ayodhya, followed by Hanuman Garhi Ramkot and Kanak Bhawan temple. The train will then cover the important destinations of the Ramayana circuit such as Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi, Prayag, Shringverpur, Chitrakoot, Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram.
The newly introduced Shri Ramayana Express train, having an overall capacity for 800 passengers, will charge Rs 15,120 per person.
Visiting Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka leg of the tour will be charged separately as the passengers opting for the Sri Lanka part of the Ramayana Yatra package can take a flight to Colombo from Chennai.
The IRCTC currently offers five-nights/six-days Sri Lanka tour package at a cost starting from Rs 47,600 per person.
We wish passengers a happy journey.
Also read: Will Yogi Adityanath be able to make a difference for BJP in poll-bound states?