Raipur, Sep 13 (PTI) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday offered prayers at the famous Mata Kaushalya temple at Chandkhuri village in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district, prompting Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to say that the Sangh chief must have felt a “sense of peace”.
The visit comes a day after the ruling Congress invited Bhagwat to visit the temple dedicated to the mother of Lord Ram.
However, an RSS functionary on Tuesday said Bhagwat’s visit to the temple has nothing to do with the ruling party’s invitation.
Prant Sanghchalak Purnendu Saxena and other state RSS leaders accompanied Bhagwat to the temple, located about 27 km away from Raipur, this afternoon, he said.
Bhagwat later visited the Lord Ram temple situated on the VIP road in Raipur city and offered prayers, the functionary said.
The temple dedicated to Mata Kaushalya, mother of Lord Ram, was renovated and beautified by the Congress government as a part of its ambitious ‘Ram Van Gaman’ tourism circuit project, under which all the significant places in the state where lord Ram believed to have visited during his exile are being developed as the places of tourist attraction.
Research scholars believe Chandkhuri is the birthplace of Mata Kaushalya and it is the only such temple in the world dedicated to her.
Bhagwat came to Raipur on September 6 to attend a three-day national coordination meeting of RSS-inspired organisations which concluded on Monday.
The meeting was also attended by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda, who left for Delhi on Monday night.
CM Baghel had told reporters that he had invited the RSS chief and other Sangh leaders to visit the Mata Kaushalya temple as they are in Raipur for the coordination meeting.
Congress’ Raipur district president Girish Dubey on Monday reached Jainam Manas Bhavan where the coordination meeting of the RSS was held and handed over a letter addressed to Bhagwat, to the Sangh functionaries.
The letter stated that the RSS chief is being invited to visit the temple to see how the Bhupeh Baghel government has been taking steps to preserve the cultural heritage.
The Congress had also invited Bhagwat to see how Gauthans (cow shelters in villages) are being developed into the centres of cow protection and livelihood generation. Following Bhagwat’s visit to Mata Kaushalya temple, Chief Minister Baghel said he must have felt a sense of peace upon visiting the place.
“We had invited Mohan Bhagwat ji to visit Mata Kaushalya temple. I am sure he must have felt a sense of peace upon visiting there. He must have realized the new view of the temple, the motherhood of Maa Kaushalya and the power of Bhancha (nephew) Ram,” Baghel tweeted in Hindi.
“We also invite him to visit Gauthan (cow shelters) so that he can know about serving ‘Gau mata’ and connecting them with livelihood etc. If he would also see the magnificent schools set up under the Swami Atmanand government English medium schools scheme, then he will also learn to amalgamate education, culture, and modernity together,” he said in another tweet. PTI TKP NSK NSK
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