AHMEDABAD: PM Narendra Modi’s government reversed years of neglect that Hindu shrines and institutions suffered and restored their glory after coming to power in 2014, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday at a ceremony of Umiyadham temple on the Sola Umiya campus along the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway in Ahmedabad. The PM will attend virtually the three-day function on December 13.
“Today, as the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a grand temple is being performed by Arya Samaji Acharya Devvrat (governor of Gujarat), I would like to say that Modiji has worked fearlessly and with faith and respect for the renovation of our forgotten centres of faith,” Shah said, underscoring that there was a time when people were ashamed to go to temples, but that changed under the leadership of PM Modi. He said “a new era has ushered in from the time PM Modi, having won the 2014 elections with full majority, performed Ganga aarti after applying sacred ash on his forehead at Kashi Vishwanath temple”.
Shah said the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was demolished during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s time and it has undergone renovation and restoration that will be unveiled by PM Modi on December 13. He also mentioned how PM unveiled the statue of Adi Shankaracharya and revived the faith of crores of Hindus at Kedarnath temple. Aside from being religious centres, temples provide social service and sources of energy that revive hope in people disappointed with life or facing difficulty, Shah said.