New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) As many as 186 passengers on Thursday embarked on a 17-day, 8,250-kilometre Char Dham Yatra aboard a special tourist train that will take them to Badrinath, Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka.

The 17-day pilgrimage aboard an AC deluxe train will also have stopovers in Varanasi, Nashik, Madurai and Hampi, a Northern Railway spokesperson said.

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The train, operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, was flagged off on Thursday evening from Hazrat Nizamuddin station.

The Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train that will take the pilgrims on the yatra has a host of features, including two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in AC I and II coaches, sensor-based washroom functions and foot massagers.

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The fully air-conditioned train provides three types of accommodation -- AC I, AC II and AC III -- and boasts enhanced security features such as CCTV cameras and security guards for each coach.

The passengers will visit the Badrinath temple in Mana village (near the China border), Narsingha Temple (Joshimath), Rishikesh, Puri including the Jagannath temple, its beaches, the Sun Temple in Konark and the Chandrabhaga beach.

In Rameshwaram, the pilgrims will visit the Ramanathaswamy Temple and Dhanushkodi while the tour of Dwarka will include pilgrimages to the Dwarkadhish temple, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and Bet Dwarka.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)