Jajpur, Jan. 22: The Odisha special Mahaparinirvan Buddhist Express, which was flagged off from Safdarjung railway station in New Delhi on Sunday, reached Haridaspur railway station in Jajpur district today.

The maiden journey of the train is a seven-night and eight-day trip covering important Buddhist sites in India.

Eighty-three people including tourists, tour operators, Buddhist monks and artists are on the train. There are 16 foreign tourists from Thailand, Indonesia and France.

The train trip is a joint effort of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) to give a boost to tourism at Buddhist sites in Odisha and other parts of India.

The train, which was running late, reached Haridaspur around 12.15pm instead of its scheduled time of 8.30am. A large number of local residents and district administration officials were waiting to give it a warm reception.

After getting down, the passengers were ferried to Lalitgiri, about 35km from the railway station, by three OTDC buses.

Later, they visited other famous Buddhist sites at Ratnagiri and Udayagiri in the district.

“I am very impressed to see such magnificent and beautiful structures connected to Lord Buddha. I have never seen such architecture before,” said Nonynath Chairuh, who hails from Thailand.

The Odisha government has taken this step to tap the tourism potential of famous Buddhist sites in the state, OTDC sources said.

“The Mahaparinirvan Express will certainly boost our tourism. We are expecting a very good response in the next season because of the enthusiasm shown by the travel fraternity to explore the hidden treasures of Odisha this time. We hope that the tourists and tour operators, who visited these sites, especially those in Jajpur, today, are impressed and they certainly publicise them in the international arena,” said OTDC general manager M.R. Patnaik.