Everything has a limit, but it seems to have been crossed in this case. We all know the Lok Sabha elections are approaching, but must humbuggery go beyond an extent?
The Indian Railways has started the Shri Ramayana Express train to go to places associated with Lord Ram.
It was flagged off from Safdarjung station in Delhi on Wednesday and will go to Ayodhya, Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi, Allahabad (sorry, Prayagraj!), Shringverpur, Chitrakoot, Hampi, Nasik and, ultimately, Rameshwaram. The journey will take 16 days and costs over Rs15,000 per person. One can go further, if he/she chooses, to Sri Lanka by air by paying over Rs 30,000.
On board the Shri Ramayana Express, there will be actors dressed up as Ram, Laxman and Sita (one wonders whether there will also be a Hanuman, complete with his tail) to entertain passengers on the trip. Now, what is one to think of all this?
Sitamarhi is in Bihar, Nandigram in West Bengal and Janakpur is in Nepal. Will the train go eastwards and then northwards, before resuming its journey southwards?
I never heard that Nasik was a place visited by Lord Ram during his exile. And why has Sabarimala been left out? Is it because there may be menstruating women on the train? But Lord Ram ate plums given by the tribal woman Shabari there, and there is even a Pampa river there (in which I have bathed!), which is mentioned in the Ramayan. So how could it be left out of the itinerary?
And will the matter end with the Shri Ramayana Express? There may soon be a demand by Krishna bhakts for a similar train, a 'Lord Krishna Express', starting from Mathura, going all over 'Braj Mandal' and then proceeding to Puri in Odisha (to see the Jagannath temple), Kurukshetra in Haryana (to see where the Mahabharat war was fought), Nathdwara in Rajasthan and, ultimately, to Dwarka in Gujarat (where Lord Krishna shifted to avoid war with Jarasand).
There may be a demand by Shiva bhakts for a 'Bholenath Express' starting from Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal (to have darshan of Lord Pashupatinath), Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Varanasi (where the Kashi Vishwanath temple stands) and then all the way south to Tamil Nadu, to visit Tanjore (to see the famous Shiva temple with its massive Nandi bull) and to Madurai (where Shiva's wife Parvati, known as Meenakshi, resides).
And why should other bhakts, not only Hindus, but also of other faiths be left behind?
For instance, Sikhs would like a 'Sat Sri Akal Express' from Nankana Saheb in Pakistan (the birthplace of Guru Nanak, who founded the Sikh religion) to Amritsar (to visit the Golden Temple), Kulu (to see Manikaran Saheb), Hemkund Saheb in Uttarakhand, Tegh Bahadur Saheb in Assam, Patna Saheb and other places. And, of course, Muslims should have a train travelling all the way to Mecca and Medina, and Christians to their Holy Land.
Hari Om!
Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK
