LUCKNOW: Falling short of making a formal announcement over the proposed Banke Bihari temple corridor in Vrindavan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reassured the people of Braj that he would safeguard the divinity of the region and add grandeur to the ‘darshan’ of Lord Krishna.
The PM was addressing a gathering in Mathura, while taking part in the ongoing Braj Ruj festival to commemorate the 525th birth anniversary of Meera Bai, the 16th-century Hindu mystic poet known for her devotion to Lord Krishna.
While promising ‘bhavya darshan’ (magnificent viewing) of Lord Krishna in the land of his birth, the PM mentioned similar corridors built in Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, Mahakal in Ujjain and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand. He also mentioned the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya, where consecration of the idol of Lord Ram is scheduled on January 22 next year.
“The day is not far when darshan of Krishna would be done with even more ‘bhavyata’,” the Prime Minister said. Notably, the PM was expected to make an announcement over Banke Bhari corridor, which got the nod of Allahabad High Court on Monday.
Modi also launched a guarded attack on the Congress party without naming it, saying that the people who always wanted to detach India from its past legacy and rich heritage, tried to alienate it from its culture and spiritual identity. They could not give up the “mentality of slavery” even after independence, he said.
The Prime Minister also released a stamp and a 35 gram coin in the name of Meera Bai on the occasion. “It is in the Amritkaal of independence that the country has freed itself from the mentality of slavery,” said Modi.
Modi accused “those people” (opposition read Congress) of categorically neglecting the Brajbhoomi and depriving it of development. He lauded the work done by the Braj Teerath Development Board in Mathura, created by the UP government to facilitate safe and proper darshan of the deity, besides ensuring basic amenities.
Modi also invoked Meera Bai, saying that her family in Rajasthan once sacrificed everything for the protection of the “centres of the religion”. Modi also said that Lord Krishna is the epitome of love and compassion, combined with aggression when it was needed to ensure justice.
He said that whenever the consciousness of the nation came under attack, a ‘prakash punj’ (light house) stood up and showed the direction to the country. “For this, some became seers, others became warriors,” he said.