Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 13-foot-tall statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya at his reconstructed Samadhi while also offering prayers at Baba Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand on Friday.
Stating that the third decade of the 21st Century will be for Uttarakhand, Narendra Modi said that there was a time spirituality and dharma were connected only with stereotypes and wrong morals but today our culture, our tradition and religious centres are seen with the same sense of pride it should have been seen.
Modi also inaugurated development projects worth Rs 225 crore as part of the first phase, while assuring people that with great speed of development works, more tourists will visit Uttarakhand in the next 10 years than in the last 100 years.
“Today our culture, our tradition, and religious centres are seen with the same sense of pride as they should have been seen. Today the temple of Lord Ram is being constructed with pride. Ayodhya is getting back its pride after centuries. Just two days ago a grand Deepotsava was organised and the entire world witnessed it. Today we can imagine the ancient cultural form of India. In Uttar Pradesh, the beautification of Kashi (Varanasi) is also on. The work of Vishwanath Dham is on at a great pace and is near completion. A Buddha circuit from Sarnath, Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya has been formed to attract followers of Buddhism. All the teerth-sthans related to Lord Ram are connected through a circuit,” Modi said.
“We are doing all this because today’s India shows faith in the directions of great personalities like Adi Shankaracharya and takes pride in that. Some people question how we will do everything in such a short time. Then a voice comes from within me. I hear the voice of 130 crore Indians and all I say is that India does not accept to be bound within time limits and getting scared anymore,” he added.
Emphasizing the role of Adi Shankaracharya, who he called an incarnation of Lord Shiva himself, the Prime Minister said, “Adi Shankaracharya made the society familiar with this truth. He established holy maths, Char Dham and the renaissance of 12 jyotirlingas. Our Upanishad culture teaches us to question every time. This inheritance of ours has been kept alive by our maths for thousands of years. They are prospering it. Be that Sanskrit, Vedic Mathematics or Science, the math and the tradition of Shankaracharya has secured this and showed path to generations. In the present time, the philosophies of Shankaracharya are even more relevant.”
Modi also applauded and congratulated the Uttarakhand government for their development works and successful vaccination drives against Coronavirus. He said with immense faith in Devbhoomi and trusting the massive possibilities, the Uttarakhand government is connected with the mahayagya of development with all its strength.
