Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday flagged off the Sambalpur-Darshan Nagar-Sambalpur Astha Special train carrying 1,512 devotees from the western region of Odisha left for Ayodhya.
The train was flagged off at Sambalpur station and it will have halts at Rourkela and Jharsuguda before entering Jharkhand. The train will reach Ayodhya on Wednesday and bring back the devotees to Odisha the next day
Talking to the media on the sidelines of the event, Pradhan said, “There is a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees. The enthusiasm is great after the consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla in the newly-inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya.”
The minister also thanked the Railways for the train with 20 sleeper coaches that will allow devotees from western Odisha to have darshan of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya.