Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kedarnath on Friday to offer prayers at Lord Shiva temple there and also to unveil a magnificent statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya.
Work on the 12-feet Guru Shankaracharya’s statue, weighing 35 tonnes had begun in 2019.
During his visit to the Himalayan shrine near the Mandakini river, a tributary to the Ganga in the state’s Rudraprayag district, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate the rebuilt samadhi of Shankaracharya damaged in the 2013 deluge and a slew of other projects.
Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone of Kedarpuri reconstruction projects worth over Rs 400 crore. Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the 8th-century seer, had attained Moksha at Kedarnath.
Unveiling of his statue will be streamed live at the 12 jyotirlingas, four Shankaracharya mutts (monasteries), his birthplace, and several prominent temples across the country.
Kedarpuri reconstruction is also considered the Prime Minister's dream project whose progress is reviewed personally by him at regular intervals.
Modi has also visited the Himalayan temple several times after becoming Prime Minister. Friday's visit to the temple will be his fifth as Prime Minister.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who along with his Cabinet colleagues has reviewed preparations at the temple ahead of the Prime Minister's visit, 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, he said.
"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.
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