Nitish, Shah to lay stone for Sita temple at Punaura Dham tomorrow
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Patna: Union home minister
Amit Shah
, who will reach Patna on Thursday evening, along with CM
Nitish Kumar
, will lay the foundation stone for Mata Sita temple at Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi on Aug 8 in presence of more than one lakh people and saints, said local MP Devesh Chandra Thakur.
Prior to this deputy CM Samrat Choudhary and development commissioner Pratyaya Amrit on Wednesday reviewed the preparations for the foundation stone-laying ceremony.
Sitamarhi MP Thakur said he had also invited people from Janakpur in neighbouring Nepal to take part in the grand ceremony. "Deputy CM Choudhary, tourism minister Raju Singh, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal and the officials of district and police administration reviewed the preparations on Wednesday," Thakur told this newspaper over phone, adding it was he who had first demanded a grand temple at Punaura Dham, considered the birthplace of Mata Janaki.
Jaiswal said apart from Shah and Nitish, many central and state ministers will be present on this occasion.
Deputy CM Choudhary said preparations are going on in full swing to make the "bhoomi pujan and foundation stone-laying for the Janaki temple corridor" a grand ceremony. "Necessary guidelines were given to the officials," he said.
Earlier, chief secretary Amritlal Meena and DGP Vinay Kumar had visited the Punaura Dham on Tuesday to take stock of the preparations.
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The foundation stone-laying ceremony is also being considered politically important as the state assembly elections are due in Oct-Nov.
Nitish himself shared the proposed temple design on social media in June, saying that a trust has been formed to expedite the construction work.
The state cabinet has sanctioned over Rs 882 crore for the proposed 156-foot-tall main temple structure — five feet less than 161-feet Ram temple in Ayodhya — with wide walkways and ample green cover to be spread over 67 acres, as the govt has plans to develop the place as a centre of religious tourism with road connectivity from the UP city.
The project will include Sita and Luv-Kush vatikas (gardens), exhibition centre, cafeteria, children's play area, parking, and other religious and cultural structures.
Architect Chandrakant Sompura, famous for the design of Ram temple in Ayodhya, has also designed the Sita temple. Makrana stone will be used in the temple and its sanctum sanctorum.
The central govt has already undertaken a project to connect Ayodhya's Ram Mandir and Maa Janaki temple. The Ram-Janaki Marg will connect Ayodhya with Bhithamore in Sitamarhi district near Nepal border.
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