Today's India confident of its heritage, says PM, dedicates infra projects to nation

The Prime Minister said that the third decade of the 21st century belongs to Uttarakhand and informed that work is going on at a fast pace on the Chardham road project. In future, devotees can come to Kedarnath through cable car.

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi evoked the spiritual tradition of the country and expressed his indescribable joy in coming to Kedarnath Dham. Addressing a gathering here on Friday, he quoted a verse from Ramcharitmanas "some experiences are so supernatural, so infinite that they cannot be expressed in words." He said this is how he feels under the shelter of Baba Kedarnath.

He laid foundation stones and dedicated to the nation various development projects in Kedarnath. He inaugurated Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi and unveiled the statue of Adi Shankaracharya. He also reviewed and inspected the executed and ongoing infrastructure works. He also offered prayers at the Kedarnath temple. Prayers were offered and celebrations held at 12 Jyotirlingas and four Dhams and many places of faith all over the country, along with the event at Kedarnath Dham, all events were linked to the main event at Kedarnath Dham.

The Prime Minister said that new facilities like shelters, facilitation centres will ease the lives of priests and devotees and allow them to fully immerse in the divine experience of the pilgrimage. Recalling the Kedarnath floods in 2013, the Prime Minister noted that damage caused by the floods years ago was unimaginable. He said, “People, who used to come here used to think that will this our Kedar Dham stand up again? But my inner voice was saying that it will stand with more pride than ever before.” The Prime Minister said due to the grace of Lord Kedar and inspiration of Adi Shankaracharya and his experience of managing the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake, he could be of help in those difficult times.

He struck a personal note and said that it is a blessing that he could serve the place, which nurtured him earlier in his life. He thanked all the workers, priests, Rawal families of the priests, officials and the Chief Minister for relentlessly pursuing the development works at the Dham. I said he kept monitoring the work through drones and other technologies. He said that “this combination of modernity with the eternal on this ancient land, these development works are the result of the natural grace of Lord Shankar.”

Talking about Adi Shankaracharya, he said that the meaning of Shankar in Sanskrit is the one who does welfare. This grammar was directly proven by Acharya Shankar. His life was extraordinary as it was devoted to the welfare of the common man, he said. The Prime Minister recalled there was a time when spirituality and religion started getting linked with stereotypes and outdated practices. Whereas, Indian philosophy talks about human welfare and looks at life in a holistic way. Adi Shankaracharya did the work of making society aware of this truth, he recalled.

He emphasised that "today, our cultural heritage centres of faith are being viewed with deserved and valid pride, as they should be viewed. A grand temple of Lord Ram is coming up in Ayodhya. Ayodhya is getting its glory back. Just two days ago, the whole world saw the grand celebration of Deepotsav in Ayodhya. Today we can imagine how the ancient cultural form of India must have been.”

The Prime Minister said that today’s India is confident about its heritage. “Today, India sets tough goals and deadlines for itself. Today, it is not acceptable for India to be timid about deadlines and goals”, the Prime Minister said. Talking about the contribution of heroes of the Freedom Struggle, the Prime Minister asked the countrymen to visit the places related to the glorious freedom struggle of India and pious places of pilgrimage and get acquainted with the spirit of India.

Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi has been reconstructed after the destruction in the 2013 floods. The entire reconstruction work has been undertaken under the guidance of the Prime Minister, who has constantly reviewed and monitored the progress of the project. Today also, the Prime Minister reviewed and inspected the executed and ongoing works along the Saraswati Aasthapath.