To retrace the route believed to have been taken by Lord Ram on his way to exile with Sita and Lakshman, the Union Road Transport Ministry is working on to construct Ram Van Gaman Marg in the country.
In the first phase, the Ministry is planning to build 210 km Ram Van Gaman Marg in Uttar Pradesh, a highway from Ayodhya to Chitrakoot, a religious place in Madhya Pradesh boarding Uttar Pradesh.
"The proposed 210 km long Ram Van Gaman Marg (path travelled by Ram while going to forest) connects Ayodhya to Chitrakoot via Faizabad, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Jethwara, Shringverpur, Manjhanpur and Rajapur in Uttar Pradesh," said blueprint prepared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The proposed alignment passes through NH-28, NH-96, NH-731A besides a greenfield alignment with bridge at river Ganga at Shrinverpur.
“The first phase of the project will be built in Uttar Pradesh connecting eight of the selected places in the state falling on the forest route taken by Lord Ram will be developed as tourist destinations at a cost of Rs 137.45 crore," said the official in the Ministry.
As per the entire Ram Path project plan, in the subsequent phases, the highway will connect from Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh to Sharda Shaktipeet (Maihar temple) located between Satna and Katni. Later, the route will also pass through Badhwar (Katni), Panna, Ramghat (Jabalpur), Shahdol, Dindori, Ram Mandir Talab, Amarkantak in Anuppur, and Ramnagar Mandla.
The government also planned that the same highway will be extended to Chattisgarh which will connect 8 sites where Ram is believed to have visited during his exile. These are Shivrinarayan (Janjgir Champa), Turturiya (Balodabazaar Bhatapaara), Chandrakhuri (Raipur), Rajim (Gariaband), Sihava (Dhamtari) and Jagdalpur(Bastar), Sitamarhi-Harchouka(Koria district) and Ramgarh(Surguja).
"The very plan to construct Ram Van Gaman Path to connect all religious places linked to Lord Ram, to make them as popular tourism destinations" said the official.
In 2018, Indian Railways had introduce tourist train ‘Shri Ramayana Express covered all destinations, which are associated with the life of Lord Shri Ram including Ayodhya, Hanuman Garhi Ramkot, Janakpur, Varanasi, Nandigram, Hampi, Kanak Bhawan temple, Sitamarhi, Prayag, Shringverpur, Chitrakoot, Nasik and Rameshwaram.