His development is embedded in faith and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is certainly not apologetic about it. The monk-turned Chief Minister has now planned a year-long programme of cultural and religious events that will begin unfolding from November. The programme will be launched from the Naimisaranya shrine in Sitapur on 27 November, with a three-day event called Sanskriti Naimisaranya Shankhnaad.
The event will be attended by ideologues, intellectuals and RSS and BJP leaders from across the country. Naimisaranya is significant because according to Hindu mythology, Gods has chosen this place to establish “dharma” on earth.
According to official sources, the main event will be held at “Chakra Teerth” in Naimisaranya and senior RSS functionary Krishna Gopal is likely to be the chief guest on the inaugural day.
Cultural artists from South, Northeast, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh will give their performances.
On the second day, Governor Ram Naik will be the chief guest and discussions and discourses will be held which will continue to the third day as well.
“Events will be held throughout the year in places of religious and historic importance. The details are being worked out and the grand finale will be held in Varanasi, which is also the Prime Minister’s constituency, in December 2018. For the finale, the ghats of Varanasi will be illuminated just like they were lit up in Ayodhya during Diwali. Performances by local as well as renowned artists will be held on the ghats (banks)”, said Girish Chandra Misra, one of the coordinators of the Naimisaranya event.
A senior tourism official, meanwhile, said that the idea behind the year–long celebration was to revive the cultural ethos in Uttar Pradesh. “So far, we have not gone beyond Mahotsavs like Agra Mahotsav, Lucknow Mahotsav and Ganga Mahotsav. Through these events we want to focus on relatively little known places and enhance their tourist potential. We plan to trun this into a regular affair”, he said.
The year-long events will be held under the guidance and supervision of Chandra Prakash Dwiwedi, the director of the epic serial “Chanakya” and Sonal Mansingh, celebrated Indian dancer.
In addition, the CM will also be launching a “Ram Rajya Rath Yatra” from Ayodhya on 13 February 2018.
The yatra will be flagged off by Yogi Adityanath from Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya and will travel to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu where it will culminate on 23 March 2018.
According to sources, the yatra will be taken out under the aegis of Shri Ramdas Universal Society, Maharashtra and representatives of BJP, VHP, RSS and their affiliated organisations will participate in it.
The yatra will travel from UP, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and end in Tamil Nadu.
The yatra is designed to revive the Ram temple movement in time for the next Lok Sabha elections.
It is noteworthy that Yogi Adityanath has already announced that a 100 feet tall statue of Lord Ram would be installed on the banks of Saryu River in Ayodhya.
Religious tourism has been on the priority list of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who has been taking keen personal interest in the development of places having religious significance. It was on the initiative of the CM that Ayodhya relived the magic of “Treta Yug”, when Lord Ram returned from exile, by illuminating the entire city on Diwali.
Efforts to resolve the Ram Janambhoomi dispute through negotiations are already underway and the latest to join the initiative is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.