Travel
Luxury Travel Around The Five Takhts Lures Tourists To India
by HARPREET SINGH BAJWA
A luxury train will carry the devout and sightseers to four of the country's five Sikh Takhts, with a flight to the fifth Takht on the ninth day completing the circuit.
The Deccan Odyssey, taken on charter from the Maharashtra government, will make its first trip from Delhi on December 29, 2010, so that passengers can spend the New Year at the Darbar Sahib.
"A Spiritual Journey to the Guru's Abode" will cover Kiratpur Sahib, Anandpur Sahib (site of the Takht Keshgarh Sahib), Amritsar (Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib), Bathinda (Damdama Sahib), Jaipur, Agra, Nanded (Takht Hazur Sahib) and Mumbai, from where passengers will take a flight to Patna on January 5, visit Takht Patna Sahib, and fly back to Delhi the next day," explained the CEO of Luxury Trains and Luxury Holidays, Sajivve Trehaan.
The Amritsar leg will include a trip to the Wagah border and back.
"The USP is the New Year at the Darbar Sahib. We have sold 60 of the train's capacity of around 80 seats," Trehaan said from London, where his company is wooing Sikhs in the diaspora.
The train's 21 coaches include two with two presidential suites each, called Platinum Class, for which the daily fare is $1,250 for single passengers and $1,060 per head when shared by two. Forty rooms in 10 other coaches have gold class ($920 single, $730 shared) and silver class ($750, $585) seats. The train includes two dining cars, a spa car, a lodge and a business centre-cum-conference hall.
The fare will cover the meals; the Taj Group will take care of the catering.
"At 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 the gurdwaras by day," Trehaan said.
He refused to disclose what his company is paying Maharashtra, but said the latter will pay the railways and the caterers. "It is our venture; the Punjab government is giving us support. We have no revenue-sharing model; after our first trip, we will talk to the government," he said.
"The company has made the proposal and we are looking into it," said Punjab Tourism Director Hussan Lal, whose government's own plans for a luxury train to promote tourism remain stuck over the way revenue is to be shared with the railways.
For more info, please CLICK here.
[Courtesy: Indian Express]
Conversation about this article
1: Jaspreet Singh (U.S.A.), December 14, 2010, 5:22 PM.
This is exactly how Guru Nanak would have done it.
2: Kaif (Coventry, United Kingdom), December 14, 2010, 11:08 PM.
Cool, but it's gonna be expensive for middle-class people. It's only meant for the affluent.
3: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.), December 15, 2010, 12:03 PM.
Nothing great or to feel happy about as this cannot be a very spiritual journey, but an entertaining tour. This luxury train is just for sightseers and not for the true devout. This can be for luxury travelers, showing the hollow power of money.
4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 16, 2010, 8:20 AM.
I am not so sure whether Jaspreet comment implied that Guru Nanak would have loved traveling first class when we know from Bhai Gurdas's Vaar: "Rayt ak aahaar kari rorhaa kee gur keea vichhaaee" [Vaar 1, Pauri 24) - "He fed himself literally with sand and swallow-wort and made stones his bedding." There are a lot more examples of the hardship He and Mardana suffered during their spartan travels.
5: Jaspreet Singh (U.S.A.), December 17, 2010, 9:47 AM.
I was being sarcastic.
6: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 18, 2010, 12:18 AM.
Jaspreet ji, your sarcasm, if any, is taken quite seriously with present day sants and babas who live and travel in style. They don't seek Bhai Lallo's kind of hospitality but look for Malik Bhago's 'Brahm Bhojs' and air conditioned-rooms. You were not much off the mark on this score.