LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that temples in our country are not just centres of faith, but also represent national integration, besides being a medium of public welfare.
Speaking after the foundation laying ceremony of a 108-foot idol of Lord Hanuman at Hanumat Dham on Devraha Ghat, the CM said, “Temples have always been a medium of public welfare. Since ancient times, food was distributed for free at temples in the form of ‘bhandaras’ (community feasts). No one asks people coming to take prasad about their caste, creed and ethnicity.”
Highlighting the public welfare programmes of the Union and state governments, Yogi said, “Nobody died due to hunger during the pandemic because of free ration distribution. It was like the guarantee of food security by religious places in olden times by organising community feasts and prasad distribution.”
Yogi also laid the foundation of the 108-feet idol of Lord Hanuman to be constructed on the ghat and congratulated the mahant of the dham, Ram Sevak Das alias Gomti Baba, for the project.
