Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag area this morning.
After being destroyed in the Uttarakhand floods of 2013, Adi Shankaracharya’s Samadhi was rebuilt.
According to officials, the restored statue of Guru Shankaracharya weights 35 tonnes and was sculpted by Mysore-based sculptors from chlorite schist, a rock that can survive rain, sunlight, and harsh temperature. It was constructed by excavating land in the samadhi area, immediately behind the Kedarnath temple.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the statue of Shri Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/7yX0Ft7fOO
— ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2021
PM Modi prayed and performed “aarti” at the historic temple before the inauguration. After giving prayers, he paid reverence to Lord Shiva and performed a circumambulation of the Kedarnath shrine.
Kedarnath Temple, located on the Mandakini River, is one of the four ancient pilgrimage destinations known as the “Char Dham Yatra,” which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Badrinath.
Uttarakhand | PM Modi undertook circumambulation of the Kedarnath shrine after offering prayers pic.twitter.com/tyTTPI7jpE
— ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2021
He also laid the foundation stone for nearly 130 crore worth of repair projects at the Himalayan temple. These projects include Saraswati Retaining Wall Aasthapath and Ghats, Mandakini Retaining Wall Aasthapath, Tirth Purohit Houses and Garud Chatti bridge on river Mandakini.
“Under PM’s leadership, development projects worth crores of rupees have been inaugurated in the state in last 5 years. Work is underway on railway project b/w Rishikesh-Karanprayag. Work is in progress on Char Dham all-weather road under govt’s Bharat Mala project,” said Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Uttarakhand Governor Lt. Gen Gurmit Singh (retd), Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his cabinet colleagues Subodh Uniyal and Ganesh Joshi, as well as Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal, greeted PM Modi at the Dehradun airport.
