Narendra Modi offers prayers at Kedarnath temple, unveils 12-foot Shankaracharya statue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kedarnath on Friday morning and offered prayers at the Shiva temple in Kedarnath. He also unveiled a 12-foot statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya at the seer's reconstructed samadhi.The Shankaracharya statue weighs around 35 tonnes and work had begun on it in 2019. The statue has been rebuilt after it was destroyed in the tragic 2013 Uttarakhand floods. Modi arrived at the Dehradun airport in the morning and was received by Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd), Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his cabinet colleagues Subodh Uniyal and Ganesh Joshi, besides Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal. Kedarpuri reconstruction is considered the prime minister's dream project whose progress is reviewed personally by him at regular intervals. "We will all welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi will reach here in the morning. He will do the Maha Rudra Abhishek and pray for the welfare of the nation. He will also unveil the statue of Adi Shankaracharya. The temple has been decorated with flowers," Bagish Ling, a priest of Kedarnath temple told news agency ANI ahead of the visit.This isn't Prime Minister Modi's first visit to the temple. In fact, this is his fifth as prime minister. He will also inaugurate key infrastructure projects worth Rs 130 crore, including Saraswati Retaining Wall Aasthapath and Ghats, Mandakini Retaining Wall Aasthapath, Tirth Purohit Houses and Garud Chatti bridge on river Mandakini. The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone for multiple projects.Ahead of Modi’s visit, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh 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 was quoted as saying by PTI. 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.With inputs from PTI