Deccan Odyssey, the premium five-star luxurious tourist train in India, arrived to Kolhapur in Maharashtra on Wednesday. The luxury train brought 14 tourists, including domestic and foreigners from the United Kingdom and Germany. Running as per the tourist bookings, this was the train’s first journey since the tourism season began this month.
Deccan Odyssey started on its tour on November 7 from Mumbai. From the megacity of Maharashtra, its travels takes it to Aurangabad, Tadoba, Ajanta, Nashik, Kolhapur Ratnagiri, and Goa. As the train chugged to Kolhapur, a special program was arranged at Bhavani Mandap for the tourists. Diwali, the Festival of Lights, was celebrated with a delightful function. Local artists presented Mardani Khel, a local-traditional martial art performance.
The Deccan Odyssey was originally a joint venture of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporations (MTDC) and The Ministry of Railways. Since 2014, the luxury train service has been managed by private tour operator Cox and Kings. The deluxe train offers two tours, Deccan Odyssey for Maharashtra and Indian Maharaja-Deccan Odyssey for the pan-India tour.
The celebratory function in Kolhapur was attended by District collector Amit Saini and district police superintendent Manojkumar Sharma. Tourists also visited New Place and Mahalaxmi temple. The display of extraordinary talent of the local traditional Martial art was presented by Suhas Thombare along with his colleagues for an hour. The show ended with cheerful applause.
By April 2016, 9 more Deccan Odyssey tours are expected to be arranged. The second tour will start from Mumbai on November 28 and the third on December 26. From January to April 2016, the train will visit Kolhapur twice each month.
Comment (0)