Modi offers prayers at Kedarnath, renews resolve to serve nation

Serving people is the true service of the Lord, he says after offering ‘rudrabhishek’ at the high altitude shrine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers at the Kedarnathshrine and said his visit to the Himalayan temple had strengthened his resolve to serve the nation.

Serving people was the true service of the Lord, the Prime Minister said after offering ‘rudrabhishek’ at the high altitude shrine.

Mr. Modi also laid the foundation stones for five major reconstruction projects at Kedarpuri. These include improved facilities for devotees, the construction of retaining walls and ghats at the Mandakini and Saraswati rivers, an approach road to the shrine and reconstruction of Adi Guru Shankaracharya’s tomb, which was devastated in the 2013 deluge.

The projects are ambitious and expensive but there would be no dearth of funds to ensure that they are completed in a time-bound manner, he said.

As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had offered to take the responsibility of reconstructing the areas surrounding the temple after the 2013 tragedy that killed thousands of people, he pointed out.

The then Uttarakhand Chief Minister had also agreed in principle. “But the then government at the Centre apparently had reservations about it and I had to return, However, perhaps Baba [Lord Shiva] had decided that the reconstruction around Kedarnath will be done by Baba’s son only,” he said. Mr. Modi visited Kedarnath in May when the portals of the Himalayan shrine were reopened for devotees after remaining closed for six months for the winter.