Uttarakhand: Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Dehradun, Uttarakhand today. Soon after arriving in the state, he reached the Kedarnath temple to offer prayers at the shrine. He will also lay the foundation stone of Kedarpuri reconstruction projects worth over Rs 400 crore later in the day. PM Modi will also visit the Himalayan shrine near the Mandakini River, where he will inaugurate the rebuilt samadhi of Shankaracharya which was damaged in the 2013 deluge and a slew of other projects. Prime Minister Modi will also unveil a statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the 8th-century seer. The unveiling of his 12-feet statue will be streamed live at the 12 jyotirlingas, 4 Shankaracharya mutts (monasteries), his birthplace and several prominent temples across the country.
PM Modi was received by Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) and CM Pushkar Singh Dhami at the airport. This visit by PM Modi is significant as it was his initiative to rebuild Kedarnath after the 2013 tragedy. Ahead of PM Modi’s visit, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, along with his Cabinet colleagues, reviewed preparations at the temple. He said all arrangements were in place and Kedarpuri is all decked up to welcome PM 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,” Pushkar Singh Dhami stated. Redevelopment of Kedarnath on such a large scale is a step towards implementing that vision, Pushkar Singh Dhami added. “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,” Pushkar Singh Dhami said.