Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed a large gathering of teerth-purohits and devotees at the Kedarnath temple. A day after Diwali, the PM unveiled a 12-foot statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya at the seer’s rebuilt samadhi.
Sitting at the foot of the statue for a while after unveiling it, PM Modi proceeded to talk a walk around Kedarpuri. He reviewed the reconstruction work carried out over the last few years.
“The decade belongs to Uttarakhand, there will be an unprecedented boost to connectivity in the region in the coming years and migration of people from the hills will stop,” PM Narendra Modi said on Friday.
Mr Modi added that no words can describe what he felt while he was sitting before the statue. “Some experiences are so sublime that words are not enough to describe them,” he said.
The energy of the eighth-century philosopher will continue to drive the country on the path of development for thousands of years, Mr Modi said.
PM Modi reached Kedarnath from Dehradun Friday morning and offered prayers at the Shiva temple.
Post prayers, he walked to the Bheem Shila behind the temple. This huge rock had rolled down the mountains during the June 2013 floods, it had stopped right behind the temple, and is believed to have protected it from the disaster.
Work on the Shankaracharya statue had begun in 2019. It weighs around 35 tonnes and its unveiling was streamed live at 12 jyotirlingas, four monasteries established by the eighth-century seer, his birthplace and a number of prominent temples across India.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh (retd.) were also present at Kedarnath along with the PM.
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