India / Kashi Mahakal Express flagged by PM Modi had a seat reserved for Lord Shiva

NEW DELHI: Lord Shiva had a seat reserved for Him for the first time ever on a train, the Kashi Mahakal Express that links three Jyotirlingas in two states and was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday from Varanasi.

After embarking upon the novel idea, the Railways authorities are further mulling if they should make a reserved seat for the "Bhole Baba" a permanent feature of the train, which will connect three Jyotirlingas -- Omkareshwar near Indore, Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain and Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi.

Seat number 64 in coach B5 was reserved and left vacant for the deity, Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told PTI.

The national transporter launched its third IRCTC-operated service, the PSU's third corporate train, from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi to Indore in Madhya Pradesh and has named it Kashi Mahakal Express.

"It's for the first time that a seat has been reserved and left vacant for the deity Lord Shiva.

"Even a temple has been drawn on the seat to make people aware that the seat is reserved for the Lord Mahakal in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain," Kumar said.

He said a decision whether to make this a permanent fixture of the train is yet to be taken.

Light devotional music, two dedicated private guards in every coach and only vegetarian meals will be some of the new features of the fully 3-AC service that will run thrice a week between Varanasi and Indore.

The train will cover 1,131 km between Varanasi and Indore via Lucknow and a distance of 1,102 km between Varanasi and Indore via Prayagraj (Allahabad) in approximately 19 hours.