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| A restaurant inside the Deccan Odyssey train taking passengers on a Sikh pilgrimage, on its first halt at Anandpur Sahib railway station on Thursday |
Christened “A Spiritual Journey to the Gurus’ Abode”, the train will reach Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib-the place where the Sikh religion was founded in April 1699 - tomorrow. The train will then proceed to Amritsar, Damdama Sahib near Bathinda, Hazoor Sahib at Nanded and also visit Agra, Jaipur and Mumbai. The pilgrims will also be flown to Patna Sahib during the week-long trip.
The pilgrims were joined by Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for external Affairs, Tarlochan Singh, former National Commission for Minorities Chairperson, former MLA Ashwini Sekhri and many other Punjab politicians and industrialists.
Peter Verdee, a London-based businessman, is travelling with his parents who left India 40 years ago. “We bought two tickets at one of the charity auctions some time back. And then we bought some more tickets for the entire family. This is a rare opportunity for my parents to visit all the five Takhts in a single trip of seven days,” said Peter.
Sajivve Trehan, CEO luxury trains said, “The train has two dining cars, a spa car and a business centre-cum-conference hall. The fare will cover the meals; the Taj Group will take care of the catering. At all halts, platinum and gold class passengers will get a luxury vehicle for a guided tour, while silver class passengers will get a Volvo bus, also with a guide. The train will travel by night and passengers can visit holy places by day,” he informed.