In news- Narayankoti temple of Uttarakhand has been included under the Adopt a Heritage project of the central government. A MoU was signed in this regard.
Key updates
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Director General, Culture, Uttarakhand and the Social Legal Research & Education Foundation (SLREF).
- SLREF has come on board as Monument Mitra for the site.
- As per the MoU, the SLREF will develop various amenities for tourists/visitors around the heritage site.
About Narayankoti temple
- Narayana Koti is a group of temples dedicated to Lakshmi Narayana which is associated with Pandavas.
- The mention of this temple group is also found in Kedarkhand
- It is located in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand.
- It is a major attraction for devotees visiting Rudraprayag as it’s the only place in the country where temples of all the nine planets – Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun, Moon, Rahu and Ketu are present.
- The complex also includes the temples of Veerabhadra and Satyanarayan.
- A stone tank in the complex is called Virabhadra kund or Brahmakund.
- It is believed that these temples were constructed in the 9th century.
Adopt a Heritage project
- It is an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.
- It was launched in September 2017 on World Tourism Day.
- The project aims to encourage companies from public sector, private sector, corporate citizens, NGOs, individuals and other stakeholders to become ‘Monument Mitras’ and take up the responsibility of developing and upgrading the basic and advanced tourist amenities at these sites as per their interest and viability in terms of a sustainable investment model under CSR.
- They would get visibility on the monument premises and Ministry of Tourism digital platforms for their initiative.
- The project began with 93 ASI monuments and has extended to heritage, natural and tourist sites across India.
Source: The Indian Express
