16 Temples Revived: Uttarakhand's Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission

The Uttarakhand government has announced the Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission to develop identified mythological (Puranic) mandir in the state so that devotees can get better facilities and transportation facilities . Under the  first phase of the Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission ,16 identified temples in the Kumaon division will be developed.

Puranic temples are those temples of Hinduism which have been mentioned in puranas. Puran which in sanskrit means ancient is a sacred literature of Hinduism. It is a collection of popular encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and genealogy. There are 18 Mukhya Puranas in Hinduism. 

Identified Temples under the Mansakhand Mandir Mission 

Under the Manaskhand Temple Mala Mission following temples has been identified ;

• Jageshwar Mahadev Temple in Almora,
• Chitai Golu Temple, 
• Suryadev Temple Katarmal,
• Kasar Devi Temple, 
• Nanda Devi Temple, 
• Patal Bhuvaneshwar Temple in Pithoragarh, 
• Haat Kalika Temple, 
• Bagnath Temple in Bageshwar, 
• Baijnath Temple, 
• Patal Rudreshwar in Champawat. 
• Maa Purnagiri Temple, 
• Maa Barahi Devi Temple, 
• Baleshwar Temple, 
• Naina Devi Temple in Nainital,
• Kainchi dham Temple and Chaiti Dham Temple in Udham Singh Nagar.

Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission

Under the Manaskhand Mandir Mission the government will develop better roads along with better transportation facilities on the routes of these temples.

Development of hotels and homestay facilities along the routes of the temples keeping in mind the volume of  pilgrims visiting these mandir in the next 25 years. 

Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna

The other ambitious tourism infrastructure development programme in the state is the Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna .

• The Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna is  project  of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highway which seeks to develop an all weather 889 km National Highway in Uttarakhand .
• These highways will connect the holy shrines of Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham.  
• The Project aims to improve  accessibility to these shrines by widening the existing roads and making travel safe and smoother. 

Kedarnath, Badrinath,Gangotri and Yamunotri  are located in the Garhwal Himalayas of  Uttarakhand .

• Kedarnath is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of  Lord Shiva, 
• Badrinath is the abode of god Vishnu,
• Gangotri is the source of river Ganga and there is a temple of river goddess Ganga ,
• Yamunotri is the source of river Yamuna and has a temple of goddess Yamuna.

Administrative Division of Uttrakhand 

The Uttarakhand administratively has been divided into two divisions , Kuamon and Garhwal division.

The Garhwal division includes 7 districts .They are Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal ,Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal and UttarKashi

The Kumaon Division includes 6 districts . They are Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Udham Singh Nagar,Pithoragarh and Naianital.

 Chief Minister of Uttrakhand : Pushkar Singh Dhami