The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) is devising strategies to popularise meditation cave built in Kedarnath last year as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.

Rudra meditation cave, which GMVN officials say, was built after Modi suggested the concept of meditation caves in the area, is located around one km upwards of Kedarnath shrine. The Nigam is offering complimentary stay to promote the cave.

“We will be offering complimentary stay to the first five tourists who book it this year. We have also reduced the tariff to Rs 990 per day,” said BL Rana, general manager of GMVN.

GMVN received just two bookings for the cave which was inaugurated in September last year. “The cave did not get a good tourist response last year as by the time it was opened for bookings, the weather had already become quite cold. Secondly, we realised the tariff was too high,” Rana said.

GMVN had fixed a tariff of Rs 3,000 per day for the cave last year. Moreover, it was also mandatory for the tourist to book it for a minimum period of three days. The Nigam has removed the three-day booking clause from this year.

Offering electricity and drinking water facility, the outer part of the cave is made up of stones and has a wooden door. The Nigam also offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea two times in a day to the tourist residing in the cave at a time of their choice.

Since the cave is located at a remote location and is meant to encourage meditation, only one person is allowed in the meditation cave at a time. Even though the cave offers complete isolation, a phone has been installed in the cave which can be used by the visitor in case of an emergency.

“We conduct a medical check-up of the person interested in staying at the cave to ensure they are physically fit. An attendant will also be available 24x7 who can be summoned by ringing the bell inside the cave,” Rana said.

A team from the Nigam will be sent for inspecting the cave this week. “Since there has been heavy snowfall, we will need to check and ensure all facilities are intact. The bookings to the Rudra cave will be opened after that on GMVN’s website,” Rana said.

First Published: May 01, 2019 17:27 IST