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Modi inaugurates part of Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath Dham project

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project in Varanasi, which will eventually connect the Kashi Vishwanath temple premises to the Ganga river besides providing several facilities to devotees who throng the Shiva temple built by Maratha ruler Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in the year 1780.

The foundation stone of the project which was laid by Modi in Varanasi which is also his parliamentary constituency, in March 2019 is spread over five lakh square feet and built at a cost of Rs 339 crore. The earlier Kashi Vishwanath premises was limited to just 3000 square feet.

Nearly 300 properties around the temple were purchased and acquired for the project and 23 new buildings have been constructed that will provide diverse facilities to the pilgrims and devotees. The gateways and other structures have been built with stones and other materials using traditional craftsmanship.

After he arrived in the holy city Modi paid obeisance at the Kaal Bhairav Temple and then took a dip in Ganga from where he collected holy water for worship at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda and a large number of saints from across the country attended the ceremony.

Before the inauguration, Modi attended a prayer ceremony and later showered workers involved in building the project with flower petals in a gesture to acknowledge their work and sat with them for a group photograph.

The new buildings will provide a variety of facilities to pilgrims, including 'yatri suvidha kendras', tourist facilitation centre, Vedic Kendra, Mumukshu Bhavan, Bhogshala, city museum, viewing gallery, food court among others.

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