BHUBANESWAR: Two temples in Odisha have been identified to be developed under the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD).
While the Ministry of Tourism had earlier selected Chausathi Yogini at Ranipur-Jharial in Balangir to be developed under the PRASHAD scheme, it has now included Maa Kichakeswari in Khiching, Mayurbhanj under it.
Officials said under the scheme, focus will primarily be on pilgrimage facilitation and development of tourism infrastructure and pilgrim amenities at the two temples. Amenities would include parking, pathways, toilets, illumination, tourist information centres, among others. This will also provide employment to local residents in sectors like hospitality, tour guiding and transportation. The ministry, though, is yet to earmark funds for the purpose.
In Mayurbhanj, the Khiching temple gets the maximum tourist footfall round the year. According to the Tourism department’s last statistical report of 2022, the temple had got 1.5 lakh domestic tourists. Similarly, the temple at Ranipur-Jharial in 2022 received 79,535 domestic tourists while the number was 74,235 in 2021. While Khiching temple has amenities for tourists, there is none at the Ranipur-Jharial. The Chausathi Yogini temple is currently under the protection of ASI.
The Ministry of Tourism had launched PRASHAD scheme in 2014-15 for developing infrastructure at tourist destinations including religious sites. That year, Odisha was also included in the scheme and Rs 10 crore was allocated for the development of Puri, Prachi riverfront, Ramachandi temple, Gundicha temple and Maa Mangala temple. The approved cost for the Odisha project, however, was Rs 50 crore.
After the BJP came to power in the state, Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her budget speech announced an overall development of tourism sites in Odisha.
Earlier, the ministry had announced inclusion of Koraput, Debrigarh in Bargarh and Khinda village in Sambalpur under the revamped Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme. These will be developed as tourism destinations.