Travel
Connecting With God ... in Luxury
by DIKSHA SAHNI
Connecting with God just took a fancy spin:
A new train just joined a luxury fleet with the aim of taking pilgrims on a tour of the five "Takhts" or "thrones" - the seats of temporal authority in the Sikh religion.
Spa, lounge, library, exquisite restaurants, five-star accommodation, live entertainment and a butler service - all this for nine days of Sikh spiritual discovery. The travel package, branded "A Spiritual Journey," was launched in late December 2010 and is sponsored by the tourism board of the State of Punjab, where roughly 60% of population belongs to the Sikh faith.
Chugging from Delhi, the train - called The Deccan Odyssey, since it is also used for a journey along western India - will ride to all five Takhts, namely Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar's Golden Temple, Sri Damdama Sahib in Bhatinda, Sri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur, Nanded's Hazur Sahib and Patna Sahib in Patna.
The train is operated by the luxury travel firm that also runs "Palace on Wheels," which travels to Rajasthan and Agra. The Luxury Train's Chief Executive Sajivve Trehan came up with the idea of the five-takht journey as a way of "promoting Sikh tourism in India," said Sanjeev Kaul, an operations manager at the train tourism company.
The news of an the organized pilgrimage pleased Avtar Singh, president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, which runs historical gurudwaras in Punjab and nearby states. "It's a good idea ... to cover all five Takhts in their journey as each Takht has its own significance in Sikhism," he said.
However, he was less impressed by the price. Devotion is not enough to get you a seat on the train: With a starting price of $750 per person per night, this spiritual journey will be off-limits to most.
And daily rates can go as high as $1250 per night for platinum class, where the guests are treated to a king-size bed, a living room and an LCD TV. This means that costs for a nine-day tour can add up to $11250. S. Avtar Singh described this as a service that could only be afforded by "the wealthy few" and called for an effort "to launch a train that would allow the common man to also visit all the Takhts in one trip, but at affordable costs."
"The idea was to provide an opportunity especially to those Sikhs who are settled abroad and can cover all Takhts in just one visit," said Mr. Kaul. And those are largely the kind of customers the company has succeeded in attracting so far.
"Our first train is completely sold out. Most tourists on board are Sikhs from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.," Mr. Kaul said.
But there were some surprises too: "We also have one foreign couple from Bulgaria", he added.
The idea of high-end luxury pilgrimages, such as this one, is likely to leave some perplexed: Aren't pilgrimages typically associated with sacrificing worldly pleasures - rather than indulging in them?
What's more, in the case of this tour organized by The Luxury Trains, stops also include popular tourist destinations like the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, the Wagah Border and Jaipur, the Pink City.
But, Mr. Kaul argues, "What's wrong with the idea of mixing spirituality with leisure? We have visitors who come to India from abroad and this is their chance to see these popular destinations in one visit only."
The next luxury train is scheduled to set off in mid-March.
[Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal]
January 6, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Gur Singh (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.), January 06, 2011, 8:34 AM.
Seriously, how far can one go in selling God's name. 10,000 dollars? Isn't there any better ways Sikhs can achieve spirituality. Whom should I blame?
2: Harman (Amritsar, Punjab), January 06, 2011, 9:16 AM.
I feel such luxury trips to visit gurdwaras are not okay as per Sikhi. Such huge spending and sheer wastage in this day and age when so many in the world could use help ...
3: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.), January 06, 2011, 9:29 AM.
The 'luxury spiritual journey' is loaded with distractions which run counter to the intent of the venture: the train has a bar which serves liquor en route!
4: Gurdip Singh Chana (Goodmayes, United Kingdom), January 06, 2011, 11:56 AM.
What a joke. Expensive sight-seeing; kinda sums up many of our Sikhs today ... just a show! It's no longer about taking part and experiencing Sikhi - it's more like being a spectator ... read all the stories of conveyor-belt Akhand Paatth, etc., etc.
5: Taran (London, United Kingdom), January 06, 2011, 12:03 PM.
I guess Mr. Kaul, like many other ulloos, think that on 'foreign' shores money grows on trees. If he really meant business, then he surely would have envisaged something more economical. Even by western standards, $750 per night is too much. In fact he can have more passengers from within India as people back home are more wealthy these days! And what is this S.G.P.C. upto? The concept of this train is 100% genuine but the market segment is totally wrong! I doubt if this train will run for long with 100% reservations at the given price tag.
6: K. Singh (Massachusetts, U.S.A.), January 06, 2011, 2:17 PM.
I think it is important to note: Sikhs are taking the train ... The person who designed the system - yes, he can be blamed to some extent as he did not have maryada in mind and this is a "yatra" in a way. However, the train is gaining popularity and Sikhs are taking it ... It seems there is a demand for the service, I think therein lies the root problem. Sikhs, myself included, need to be mindful of our actions. Spending thousands of dollars on this trip and imbibing in alcohol along such a journey, defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
7: R. Singh (Canada), January 06, 2011, 3:03 PM.
A money making scam, disguised as a religious expedition. Whoever came up with it needs to own up to the pure monetary value of this "pilgrimage", in a country where poverty still runs rampant.
8: Harminder Singh (California, U.S.A.), January 06, 2011, 4:30 PM.
$10,000 can educate 90 children in India for a one-year period. Think about it. Please visit www.nishkam.org
9: Dildeep Singh Dhillon (Canada), January 06, 2011, 6:15 PM.
How far removed are these folks from our Gurus' message of simple, truthful living? I wonder what would the Gurus have to say about this naked display of materialism and hedonistic extravagance. Those connected with this should hang their heads in shame.
10: Lakhvir Singh Khalsa (Nairobi, Kenya), January 07, 2011, 1:33 AM.
A far cry from Baba Nanak's simple message of 'sacha sauda' ... no greater pilgrimage than that.
11: Lakhmir Singh (France ), January 07, 2011, 10:53 AM.
The organizers, in their greed, and the clients, in their ignorance, have failed to distinguish between 'comfort' and 'luxury'. There's nothing wrong with 'comfort' on a spiritual journey. On the other hand, everything's inappropriate with 'luxury' in this context: waste, gluttony, callous regard of those who are in need, and creating insensitivity within oneself to spirituality. Sikhi rejects self-punishment or deprivation as a road to spirituality. It supports comfort, but rejects excesses and wastage.
12: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), January 07, 2011, 11:57 AM.
This luxury train is touring to all the Takhts, but the original news in the papers mentioned that this train has a full-fledged bar. This is the way one connects with God?
13: Parvinder Singh (Delhi, India), March 08, 2011, 5:09 AM.
It is better to take the Punj Takht package from www.sikhtourism.com which charges Rs. 37,500 for the train tour and Rs. 48000 for the air-flight tour.