The Kashi Mahakal Express that links three Jyotirlingas in two States, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday from Varanasi, had a seat reserved for Lord Shiva.
The Railways authorities are further mulling if they should make a reserved seat for the “Bhole Baba” a permanent feature of the train, which will connect three Jyotirlingas — Omkareshwar near Indore, Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain and Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi.
Seat number 64 in coach B5 was reserved and left vacant for the deity, Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told PTI .
The national transporter launched its third IRCTC-operated service, the PSU’s third corporate train, from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi to Indore in Madhya Pradesh and has named it Kashi Mahakal Express.
“It’s for the first time that a seat has been reserved and left vacant for the deity Lord Shiva.
“Even a temple has been drawn on the seat to make people aware that the seat is reserved for the Lord Mahakal in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain,” Mr. Kumar said.
He said a decision whether to make this a permanent fixture of the train is yet to be taken.
Light devotional music, two dedicated private guards in every coach and only vegetarian meals will be some of the new features of the fully 3-AC service that will run thrice a week between Varanasi and Indore.
The train will cover 1,131 km between Varanasi and Indore via Lucknow and a distance of 1,102 km between Varanasi and Indore via Prayagraj (Allahabad) in approximately 19 hours.
Owaisi questions the decision
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the move and tweeted a photo of the Preamble of the Constitution, tagging the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Seat for God “one-time affair”
The IRCTC on Monday said a seat was reserved for Lord Shiva in the Kashi Mahakal Express during its inaugural run as a “one-time affair” to seek “blessings” for the success of the new project.
“The staff of the new Kashi-Mahakal Express train temporarily put the photos of Shri Mahakaal on an upper berth so as to do pooja to seek blessings for the success of the new project (new train and new rake). It is meant only for the inaugural run as a one-time affair.
“The inaugural run was also not open to passengers. There is going to be no such reserved or dedicated berth for this purpose in the commercial run of the train which is starting from February 20, 2020 onwards,” the IRCTC said in the statement.
