CHANDIGARH: Councilor Shakti Prakash Devshali has requested Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to start a direct train service from Chandigarh to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Ayodhya.
In a letter to the Union Railway Minister, Devshali said that Shri Ayodhyaji, the birthplace of Lord Shri Ram, is one of our major pilgrimage sites. Every year lakhs of devotees from the country and abroad go to Ayodhya and fulfill their wishes by having darshan of Lord Shri Ram. Chandigarh is a major city in North India where a large number of devotees of Lord Shri Ram reside.
Apart from this, there are many major cities nearby for which Chandigarh is a major station for traveling through trains. Every day thousands of Ram Bhakts want to go to Shri Ayodhyaji from Chandigarh and the surrounding area, but due to no direct train from Chandigarh, Ram Bhakts have to face a lot of difficulties. Ram Bhakts either get a train to Ambala to go to Shri Ayodhyaji or have to go to Lucknow first from Chandigarh and then have to wait for another train there to go to Shri Ayodhyaji. Due to which the entire journey takes an additional time of 5 to 6 hours.
Similarly, the same process has to be repeated for returning from Shri Ayodhyaji, due to which the elderly and children have to face a lot of trouble in traveling.
Devshali said that there is a huge industrial area in and around Chandigarh, in which workers and laborers are migrant brothers in abundance, many of whom belong to Shri Ayodhyaji or its surrounding area. All these migrant brothers also use these trains in large numbers every day to travel from Chandigarh to their home area. At
present about 8 trains are running from Chandigarh to Lucknow located near Shri Ayodhyaji, out of which one train number 02232 runs daily.
In order to provide immediate facilities to the pilgrims going to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the above train, which goes from Chandigarh to Lucknow, should be increased by a few kilometers and extended to Shri Ayodhyaji. With this decision, a large number of pilgrims can be facilitated without starting any additional train, due to which the devotees of Ram will feel very happy.
Devshali said that with the start of the train from Chandigarh to Shri Ayodhyaji, not only Chandigarh but Ram devotees from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal will be able to visit Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra easily.