Uttarakhand will receive more tourists in next 10 years than it did in 100 years, says Narendra Modi at unveiling of Shankaracharya statue

The decade belongs to Uttarakhand, there will be unprecedented boost to connectivity in the region in the coming years and migration of people from the hills will stop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

The prime minister was addressing a large gathering of teerth-purohits and devotees at the Kedarnath temple after unveiling a 12-foot statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya at the seer’s rebuilt samadhi.

The prime minister sat at the foot of the statue for a while after unveiling it and then proceeded to talk a walk around Kedarpuri to review the reconstruction work carried out over the last few years.

Modi said he was at a loss of words to 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 added.

The energy of the eighth century philosopher will continue to drive the country on the path of development for thousands of years, Modi said.

He also expressed happiness over the redevelopment works at Kedarnath, which experienced severe damage in the 2013 floods.

“After the 2013 destruction, people who came here used to think will our Kedar Dham stand up again? But a voice within me always told me that Kedarnath would be redeveloped with more pride than ever before,” said Narendra Modi.

Speaking about the devastation caused by the floods, the prime minister said, “At the time, I was the chief minister of Gujarat, but I could not stop myself and rushed here. I witnessed that destruction and pain.”

I feel fortunate enough that we successfully initiated these development projects in Kedarnath,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi thanked all the workers, priests, Rawal families of the priests, officials and the chief minister for relentlessly pursuing the development works at the Dham. 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, Modi said that the meaning of Shankar in Sanskrit is the one who does welfare is Shankar. He said, “Acharya Shankar’s life was as extraordinary as it was devoted to the welfare of the common man.”

“There was a time when spirituality and religion were believed to be associated only with stereotypes. But, Indian philosophy talks about human welfare, sees life in a holistic manner. Adi Shankaracharya worked to make society aware of this truth,” PM Modi further said.

The prime minister speaking after unveiling a 12-foot statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya at the seer’s rebuilt samadhi in Kedarnath.

He also laid the foundation stone of reconstruction projects worth over Rs 400 crore at the Himalayan temple.

“No words can describe the experience of sitting before Adi Guru Shankaracharya’s statue at his rebuilt samadhi,” Modi said.

He also credited Baba Kedar for the reconstruction work carried out in Kedarpuri in sub-zero temperatures after the devastating floods of 2013.

The prime minister also lauded the discipline shown by Uttarakhand in the fight against COVID-19 . “Overcoming the geographical difficulties, today Uttarakhand and its people have achieved the target of 100 percent single dose vaccination. This is the strength and power of Uttarakhand,” he said. “Uttarakhand is situated at a very high elevation. My Uttarakhand will scale even greater heights than its own elevation”, the prime minister concluded.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retired) were also in Kedarnath along with the PM, whose visit came a day ahead of the Himalayan temple’s closure for winter on Saturday.

Modi was received at the Dehradun airport in the morning by the governor and the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues Subodh Uniyal and Ganesh Joshi, besides Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal.

With inputs from PTI