Pics: Spoorthi Ullal/Jeevan D'Costa

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru/Udupi (MS)

Mangaluru/Udupi, Mar 7: The final train of the first phase of the Ram Mandir Darshan Abhiyan departed from the city, carrying 1400 pilgrims bound for Ayodhya on Wednesday. This marks the culmination of the initial phase of the pilgrimage campaign.

In February, 20,000 devotees of Lord Ram had undertaken the journey to Ayodhya from Karnataka, utilizing 12 trains for transportation. This information was conveyed by Jagadish Hiremani, the state convenor of the abhiyan, during a press conference.

Mangaluru

Udupi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is offering Rs 3000 to each individual interested in visiting Ayodhya, as the Abhiyan is organized by the party itself. Special trains named Aastha have been scheduled for this purpose. According to Jagadish, the second phase of the campaign will commence after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections.

Out of the 1400 pilgrims on the last train of the first phase, 640 hailed from Dakshina Kannada, 400 from Udupi district, and the remainder from Uttara Kannada district. Departing from Mangaluru on Wednesday, the train is set to arrive in Ayodhya on March 9, with the return journey slated for March 10. The train is expected to return to Mangaluru on March 13.

Sathish Kumpala, the district president of BJP, Vijayendra, the state co-convener of the campaign, Kasthuri Panja, DK District convenor, as well as Ramdas Bantwal and Devadas Shetty were present.