Modi’s Kedarnath meditation cave drawing more pilgrims
| Date :30-Jun-2019 |
DEHRADUN;
THE cave at the Kedarnath shrine where Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditated last month has seen an unprecedented boost in popularity, with large number of devotees logging into the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (GMVN) website daily to book the facility online.
The “dhyan gufa” (meditation cave) is booked for the whole of July and there are also advance bookings for different dates in August, September and October, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (GMVN) General Manager B L Rana said. People from different parts of the country are logging into the GMVN website to book the facility. Since the Prime Minister’s visit not a single day has passed when the “dhyan gufa” was not occupied by someone, the official said. The growing popularity of the unique facility in the serene environs of the 12,500 feet shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas has prompted the district administration to plan three more meditation caves in its vicinity, Rudrapradrayag
District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal told PTI. “We are planning to build three more caves close to the existing one. In fact work on one has already started and the sites for the other two on the surrounding hills have also been identified,” he said. Ghildiyal said that the “gufa” has been in existence for nearly a year now but people have started showing interest only after the PM meditated there on May 18.
When PM Modi came to visit the shrine, a photograph of the PM wrapped in a saffron shawl, sitting inside the cave with his eyes shut in a pose of meditation had gone viral on social media, giving the newly added tourist attraction the much needed promotional push, the DM said. Better facilities created for pilgrims at Kedarnath coupled with the Prime Minister’s increased visits have even contributed to a dramatic rise in footfall at the Himalayan temple, which received a record 7,62,000 pilgrims in 50 days so far this year, he said.