Special budget train for Buddhist sites

kirtu · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:31 am

Quote:

The Indian Railways will launch its maiden special train covering the Buddhist circuit across the country, with a visit to Nepal also thrown in.

...

The pilgrims get to see 11 Buddhist sites starting with the paintings and sculptures in Ajanta and Ellora Caves. The other sites are: the massive stupa at Sanchi; Sravasti, capital of the ancient kingdom of the same name; the birth place of Gautam Buddha in Lumbini, Nepal; the Mahaparinirvana Temple in Kushinagar; Vaishali, where the Buddha preached his last sermon; the evocative ruins of Buddhist monasteries and temples of Nalanda; Rajgir, where Buddha preached two of his most famous sermons; Bodh Gaya where the Buddha attained enlightenment; Sarnath where he preached his last sermon; and the excavations of Nagarjunakonda.

Kirt

retrofuturist · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:54 pm **Posts:** 664

Greetings,

This is pretty cool. Does anyone know how the pricing compares to that of pilgrimage services offered by other tourist operators?

Metta,
Retro.

kirtu · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:55 am

retrofuturist wrote:

This is pretty cool. Does anyone know how the pricing compares to that of pilgrimage services offered by other tourist operators?

Well this is about $500 at any of the three pricing levels.

Kirt

Clueless Git · **Joined:** Tue Nov 24, 2009 9:30 am **Posts:** 96

£500 (20,000 Rupees?) is virtualy peanuts to us for a holiday like that.

As a very rough guide to the value of 20,000 Ruppees in terms of Indian spending power: When my daughter was last in Bangalore a decent meal out for 5 cost 50 Rupees.

kirtu · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:29 pm

Clueless Git wrote:

£500 (20,000 Rupees?) is virtualy peanuts to us for a holiday like that.

As a very rough guide to the value of 20,000 Ruppees in terms of Indian spending power: When my daughter was last in Bangalore a decent meal out for 5 cost 50 Rupees.

20,000 INR = £271 = $US 433

20,000 is about the lowest level in the 3 levels but the highest is only about 26,000 INR. Note that the train was intended for pilgrims from Asian countries so people from the West may not be eligible.

Kirt

retrofuturist · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:54 pm **Posts:** 664

Greetings Kirt,

That would be pretty discriminatory if that was the case! I suspect it just says that because that's where most Buddhists live, and because in terms of proximity, they're closer to India than UK, Us, Australia etc.

Retro.

kirtu · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:29 pm

Actually 20,000 INR is the middle level:

Quote:

Twin-sharing accommodation comes for Rs.23,650 per person, while triple-sharing accommodation costs Rs.20,600 and for hall or dormitory accommodation, the fare has been pegged at Rs.16,650. Accommodation will be provided in budget hotels.

Kirt

Anders Honore · **Joined:** Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:39 pm **Posts:** 47

retrofuturist wrote:

Greetings Kirt,

That would be pretty discriminatory if that was the case!

And fairly common in Asia.

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