In response to a protest by seers in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, the IRCTC said on Monday evening that the saffron dress of servers on board the Ramayan Express, which had enraged a section of sadhus, will be changed. The seers had already expressed strong opposition to the saffron costume worn by servers on board the IRCTC-operated Ramayan Express, calling it a “insult” to Hinduism.
They had threatened to cancel the train’s departure from Delhi on December 12 if the clothing rule was not lifted. “Wearing saffron apparel with sadhu-like headgear and’malas’ (necklaces) of ‘rudraksha’ (holy seeds) is a disrespect to Hindu faith and its seers,” Avdeshpuri, former general secretary of the Ujjain Akhada Parishad, said.
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“It is to tell that the outfit of service workers is fully changed in the look of professional apparel of service staff,” the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) wrote in a retweet to a media source that aired this agency storey. When asked about his reaction to the IRCTC statement, Avdeshpuri replied, “It is a triumph of (Hindu) faith and’sanskriti’ (culture)” and that it was his responsibility to promote the matter.
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Simhastha Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years at Ujjain, where the famed Shree Mahakaleshwar temple of Lord Shiva is located. The railway will carry pilgrims to Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Nandigram, Janakpur, Chitrakoot, Sitamarhi, Nashik, Hampi, and Rameshwaram, covering a distance of more than 7,500 kilometres. There are first-class eateries, a library, and shower rooms on the Ramayan Express.
