Day or night, workers push hard to finish PM Modi’s pet Kashi Vishwanath Dham project
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Day or night, workers push hard to finish PM Modi’s pet Kashi Vishwanath Dham project

Designed by architect Bimal Patel, the Rs 400-crore Kashi Vishwanath Dham project aims to ease congestion in and around the Shiva shrine in Varanasi.

Praveen Jain, Neelam Pandey    
Construction workers build the main gate to the Kashi Vishwanath Dham | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Construction workers carrying out work at the main gate of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Project | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Varanasi: The Kashi Vishwanath Dham project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, is scheduled to be inaugurated later this year. And to complete the project in time, construction is on in full swing, even at night.

Spread across an area of 5 lakh square feet, the project aims to provide world-class facilities to pilgrims who visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple, a shrine to Shiva.

The project, designed by architect Bimal Patel, aims to ease congestion in and around the temple, provide better facilities for tourists, preserve existing heritage structures and connect the Kashi Vishwanath temple with the Ganga ghats through three decorated gates. The project is set to cost over Rs 400 crore.

On festive and auspicious occasions, such as Mahashivratri or the first Monday of the month of Shrawan, the temple and its surroundings see in excess of 2-3 lakh visitors in a day. With this redevelopment, the congestion and crowd that often accumulates around the temple will be reduced, officials involved in the project said.

A new Ganga view gallery is also a significant part of the project.

The redevelopment is being aided by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Department of Culture of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

ThePrint brings you images from the construction site in Varanasi.

Construction work being carried out at night at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham site in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh| Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A construction worker takes a break from the round-the-clock work being carried out at Kashi Vishwanath | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Work had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and, to make up for it, construction is being carried out at night as well | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A bird’s eye view of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Construction work on the bank of the river Ganga | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A security guard shoos cattle from the construction site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
An inspection is conducted at the site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Another view of inspection at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A construction worker at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A view of the main gate of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Workers taking a break from construction atop a road-roller | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
More workers at the construction site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Devotees offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple amid the construction work | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Security personnel have been deployed at the construction site | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
As part of the project, temples that were located inside houses are also being restored | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint