Mahaparinirvana Experess is set to expand its route to touch the Buddhist sites in Orissa. Bhubhaneshwar, viagra Khandagiri, advice Udaygiri, and Lalitagiri are the newly added destinations to the route of the express train.

The express train will start covering these new routes 20 January onwards. The train was introduced in the year 2007 and currently the tariff ranges from INR 7500 to INR 34,000.

The main focus of the new route will remain on the Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Orissa, which is otherwise popular for the Hindu temples.

Currently the train begins its journey from Delhi at the Safdarjung Railway Station. The journey lasts for Seven-Nights-Eight-Days and it follows the Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, and Lumbini route.

The Indian Railways is reconsidering resuming the Chennai Buddhist shuttle that was pulled off the circuit in March this year. If the train service resumes, it will cater to the surge of Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka.

The Mahaprinirvana Express is very popular among tourists coming from China and Thailand. Of late, even Srilankan tourists have started to board this train quite often.

The Orissa loop has sites that date back to about the 6th century BC, dotted with stupas, chaityas and edicts in 33 inscriptions on pillars. It is believed that Buddha Kesha (hair relics) was brought to the state by two rich traders – Tapassu and Ballika”. Later, tooth relics were also believed to have been brought to the state.

Of the 400 million Buddhist people around the world, around 200,000 to 500,000 people come to India, the only place where they can experience the genesis and progress of their faith