PM inaugurates Circuit House near Somnath Temple, says his govt builds ‘places of pride’

Circuit House at Somnath (Twitter/@narendramodi)

The 48-room Circuit House has been built at the cost of Rs 30 crore and is spread across 15,000 sq metres. “The need for a Circuit House was felt as there is one guest house that is also far from the temple. The temple trust was always under pressure to accommodate people. But after this, the trust will not be pressurised and they will devote more time and attention to the temple”, the PM stated in his virtual address.

The grand facility, with its front façade resembling the architecture of a medieval-era palace, has come upon a 15,000-square metre plot adjoining Sagar Darshan, the VVIP guest house of Shree Somnath Trust. The four-storey Circuit House has two VVIP suite rooms, eight VVIP rooms, 24 deluxe rooms, kitchen, general and VIP dining areas and an auditorium having a seating capacity of 200. “The state government felt a need for such a facility and the Somnath Trust returned ownership of a plot of land to the state government for this project,” Vijaysinh Chavda, general manager of SKT said.

Listing the facilities at Somnath Temple, Modi said a pilgrim plaza and complex proposal are in their final stages while similar facilities are being proposed for Ambaji Temple in Banaskantha district, too.

The PM also declared the commencement of a special train from Delhi to Divya Kashi Darshan on Saturday.

Modi also elaborated on four ways – cleanliness, facilities, time and thinking – that were necessary to promote tourism. “Today is an era of Twenty20, people want to cover maximum places in less time. The highways, expressways, modern trains and airports have given an impetus to this… Now, much has been halted because of Covid… It is necessary to be innovative and modern. Also, we are so proud of our ancient heritage because of which the statues that were stolen have been brought back,” he said.

He spoke of how tourism was at the centre of economies across the globe and added that in India, every state and region has the potential of a country and endless possibilities. “Take any state, like in Gujarat, Somnath, Dwarka, Statue of Unity Dholavira and Rann Kutch; in Uttar Pradesh, Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi, Kushinagar, Vindhyanchal; in Uttarakhand which is called Devbhoomi with Kedarnathji and Badrinathji; Himachal Pradesh has Maa Jwala Devi and Maa Naina Devi… a tour of these places increases the feeling of national unity, and the country sees this as a sign of prosperity. In the past seven years, the country has worked towards developing tourism. Heritage sites that were ignored are being developed now with everyone’s support for which private sectors, too, have come forward”, he said.

The Prime Minister also expressed hope that as soon as the infections go down, the number of tourists will rise rapidly. “The government’s vaccination campaign has focussed on vaccinating everyone in tourist states on priority. Goa and Uttarakand worked quickly to achieve this,” he said.

Meanwhile, at a separate event, Modi also announced the installation of a Netaji (Subhash Chandra Bose) statue at India Gate from where the Amar Jawan Jyoti was shifted to the National War Memorial.