PM Modi offers prayers at Kedarnath temple, unveils Adi Shankaracharya statue

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Nov 05, 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Kedarnath temple Friday and unveiled a magnificent 12-feet statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya weighing 35 tonnes, work on which had begun in 2019. This is Modi’s fifth visit to the temple as Prime Minister.

 

“You all are witness to the inauguration of Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi here today. His devotees are present here in spirit. All maths and ‘jyotirlingas’ in the country are connected with us today,” PM Modi said.

Taking about the redevelopment of Kedarnath after 2013, PM Modi said, “After 2013 destruction, people used to think if Kedarnath could be redeveloped. But a voice within me always told me that Kedarnath will be redeveloped again.”

“I have regularly reviewed redevelopment works at Kedarnath from Delhi. I reviewed progress of different works being carried out here through drone footage. I want to thank all ‘rawals’ here for their guidance for these works,” he added.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated re-development projects worth Rs 130cr at the shrine. These projects include Saraswati Retaining Wall Aasthapath and Ghats, Mandakini Retaining Wall Aasthapath, Tirth Purohit Houses and Garud Chatti bridge on river Mandakini

Modi reached Dehradun early morning, where he was received by Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Among a slew of projects, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate the rebuilt samadhi of Shankaracharya damaged in the 2013 deluge near the Mandakini river, a tributary to the Ganga in the state’s Rudraprayag district. Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the 8th-century seer, had attained Moksha at Kedarnath.

The event will be streamed live at the 12 jyotirlingas, four Shankaracharya mutts (monasteries), his birthplace and several prominent temples across the country.

PM Modi is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone of Kedarpuri reconstruction projects worth over Rs 400 crore. Kedarpuri reconstruction is also considered the Prime Minister’s dream project whose progress is reviewed personally by him at regular intervals.
Ahead of Modi’s visit, Dhami, who along with his Cabinet colleagues, reviewed preparations at the temple and said all arrangements are in place and Kedarpuri is all decked up to welcome Modi.

“The Prime Minister’s vision is to develop Devbhoomi as the world’s spiritual and cultural capital where people from across the globe come for peace,” Dhami said.

Redevelopment of Kedarnath on such a large scale is a step towards implementing that vision. It is a proud moment for us. The prime minister has done things in Kedarnath which no one even thought of doing for hundreds of years,” he said, adding the Prime Minister’s faith in Baba Kedar is absolute.

Chief Secretary SS Sandhu along with Garhwal Commissioner Ravinath Raman visited Kedarnath on Thursday for an on-the-spot assessment of the arrangements.

On Thursday, PM Modi addressed soldiers on Diwali at the Nowshera sector in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. This was the Prime Minister’s second Diwali with the troops in Rajouri district — in 2019, he had celebrated the festival of lights with them at Rajouri Army Division Headquarters. On Diwali day in 2020, he was with soldiers and Border Security Force (BSF) jawans in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.

Courtesy:Indian Express