Overview
- The Delhi government, which announced the plan Monday, will send about 1,300 residents to Somnath at no charge.
- A special train will leave Delhi’s Safdarjung station on April 30 and reach Gujarat the next morning, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta set to flag it off.
- Pilgrims are slated to pray at the Somnath Jyotirlinga and visit nearby temples during a three-day stay from May 1 to May 3.
- The Gujarat government will provide lodging, meals, drinking water, and basic services, removing out-of-pocket costs for travelers.
- Leaders frame the Somnath Swabhiman Parv as marking 1,000 years of faith at the shrine, with some reports noting its 1026 sacking and the yatra’s ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ message.