Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma flagged off the first pilgrimage special train from Jaipur to Madurai and Rameshwaram at the Durgapura Railway Station on Monday. Addressing the public, he said that pilgrimage has great importance in our lives as they are a symbol of cultural heritage.
Sharma said, “Our country has been attacked many times by invaders, who destroyed our cultural and religious heritage. But the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has protected and developed our cultural centres.”
Sharma said taking inspiration from the prime minister, the state government is developing of faith centres and organizing pilgrimages for the senior citizens.He said that people want to visit pilgrimage sites but some of them couldn’t go on pilgrimages due to financial constraints and other reasons. However, we are glad that the society will now benefit from the Senior Citizen Tirth Yatra Yojana by the Rajasthan government.
Earlier this year, about 3,000 pilgrims were taken on a pilgrimage to Ayodhya for the darshan of Shri Ram Temple. Under the scheme, this year, out of 36,000 pilgrims, 15,000 pilgrims will be taken on a pilgrimage to Ayodhya, and 15,000 pilgrims will be taken on a pilgrimage to other sites, Sharma said.
Also, 6,000 pilgrims will be taken on a pilgrimage to Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu (Nepal) by air, Sharma said.
All the arrangements for the movement, transportation, food, accommodation etc. of these pilgrims will be made by the state government, on which an expenditure of about Rs 80 crore is estimated.
Addressing the programme, Devasthan Minister Joraram Kumawat said that the state government is preserving and developing our religious and cultural heritage. He said that the development of major religious and pilgrimage sites has been announced in the state budget.
Along with this, an amount of Rs 13 crore has also been approved for the decoration of 600 temples in the state during festivals.
