Railways withdraws saffron attire of serving staff on board the Ramayana special trains following objections
The Indian Railways has withdrawn the saffron attire of its serving staff on board the Ramayana Special Trains following objections from seers and sections of Sadhus, who claimed that the attire was objectionable as it insulted the Hindu culture.
“Dress of service staff is completely changed in the look of professional attire of service staff. Inconvenience caused is regretted,” the Railways said in response to a media report on the subject.
The quick move from the Railways came after seers objected to saffron attires of waiters on board the Ramayan Express and alleged that the dress was an insult to the Hindu religion. A section of sadhus had warned that they will stop the train in Delhi on December 12 if the saffron uniform of the staff on-board Ramayan express was not withdrawn.
Seers welcome the move to withdraw saffron uniforms from Ramayan trains
“Donning saffron attire with sadhu-like headgear and wearing ‘malas’ (necklaces) of ‘rudraksha’ (sacred seeds) is an insult to Hindu religion and its seers,” Ujjain Akhada Parishad’s former general secretary Avdeshpuri was earlier quoted as saying by news agency PTI. He later welcomed the move to withdraw the attire.
The first Ramayan train started on a seven-day journey from the Safdarjung railway station on November 7 and is slated to cover 15 places that have significance in the Ramayana. The train will be covering more than 7,500 km distance and visiting places such as Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Nandigram, Janakpur, Chitrakoot, Sitamarhi, Nashik, Hampi and Rameshwaram.
