One of the carriages brought parked in a city hotel. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Oct. 20: This Diwali, the state tourism department will gift citizens of the state capital and visitors to Ghorakatora the chance to enjoy a royal vintage ride.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi will inaugurate two horse-drawn carriages in Patna on October 25, while another four would start services at Ghorakatora before that.

Bihar State Tourism Department Corporation (BSTDC) has brought six horse-drawn carriages from the Patiala-based VDI Exports Private Limited. “Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi will inaugurate the services of horse-drawn carriages at Eco Park (Rajdhani Vatika) in Patna on October 25.

The carriages would run daily between Eco Park and Raj Bhavan in the state capital,” said Sunil Kumar ‘Pintu’, the tourism minister.

The wooden carriages would comprise a seating area called saloon with two upholstered seats. The saloon will have a hood, which can be removed in good weather. The steering mechanism also has two parts — male and female. While the male part is placed near the horses in the front, the female is in the rear. They work together to help steer the vehicle.

Each carriage would accommodate two people in the front row and three people in the back row. Though the exact fares for the rides have not been finalised yet, it would vary between Rs 100 and Rs 200 at both the places.

BSTDC sources revealed the carriages at Ghorakatora would be inaugurated prior to October 25, when chief minister Nitish Kumar is slated to inaugurate the 42nd anniversary ceremony of Vishwa Shanti Stupa.

The stupa is located atop Griddharkutta hill in Rajgir. Hundreds of industrialists and pilgrims from Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand would take part in the prayer ceremony to be conducted by Reverend Shanti Shugei, the chief monk of Nippomzan Myohoji of Japan.

BSTDC also plans to construct two new bamboo huts near the lake in Ghorakatora.

Citizens in the state capital are upbeat about the arrival of the carriages. “The baghis (horse-drawn carriage) would bring the memories of the Victorian era in Patna. I just can’t wait to enjoy the cool but stylish rides in these baghis on breezy evenings,” said Prerna Verma, resident of Patliputra Colony.