Uttarakhand’s Narayankoti temple to get a facelift under Central heritage scheme

The site was identified under the central government ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project. The SLREF has come on board as a ‘Monument Mitra’ for the site.

According to the MoU, the foundation will develop various amenities for visitors around the ancient heritage site. This includes the construction of road, installation of street lightings, garbage disposal system, availability of clean drinking water, development of parking area and facelifting the entrance and boundary wall around the temple site.

The site is a cluster of ancient temples, about two kilometres from Guptkashi on the Rudraprayag-Gaurikund highway. It is a major attraction for the devotees visiting Rudraprayag as it is believed to be the only place where temples of all the nine planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun, Moon, Rahu and Ketu are present. It is believed that the construction of these temples was done in the ninth century.

Speaking on the occasion, Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Tourism, Uttarakhand, said: “Adopt a Heritage project by Ministry of Tourism is helping the ancient monuments, archaeological sites and temples regain their lost glory. The development of facilities will have a direct impact towards increasing the number of visitors and will benefit local youth by generating employment/self-employment opportunities in the region.”

Dilip Jawalkar, Tourism Secretary, Uttarakhand, added: “Gartang Gali, Pithoragarh Fort, Chaysheel Bugyal, Chaurasi Kutiya, Sati Ghat and Narayankoti Temple have been identified as among the important heritage sites of Uttarakhand and progress is being made towards the development of these sites and making them ready for tourism.”