Agartala, Sep 22 (IANS) Fulfilling much-expected public expectation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the redeveloped Mata Tripura Sundari temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas worshipped by Hindus, in southern Tripura’s Udaipur on Monday, officials said.

After virtually laying the foundation stone of 13 development projects worth over Rs 5,127 crore in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar, the Prime Minister will arrive in Agartala on Monday afternoon.

From Agartala, he will go to Gomati district headquarters, Udaipur, by helicopter to inaugurate the redeveloped Mata Tripura Sundari temple, 65 km south of Agartala.

A police official said that a 12-kilometre roadshow from Palatana helipad to the temple is also planned, with foolproof security measures put in place.

He said that after inaugurating the redeveloped temple and the beautified surroundings, PM Modi will offer puja at the Kali temple. He will return to Agartala and then leave for Delhi. “There will be no public address by the Prime Minister as per the schedule available as of now,” the official said.

PM Modi’s Monday visit is the 11th visit to the state and the second visit to the Tripura Sundari temple since he became the Prime Minister in 2014. He visited and offered puja to the Mata Tripura Sundari temple earlier on April 7, 2019, and his last trip to Tripura was on April 17, 2024, in connection with the Lok Sabha elections.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, who visited Udaipur and Tripura Sundari temple twice during the past two weeks to supervise the preparation and arrangements of the Prime Minister’s visit, said that he had invited PM Modi to inaugurate the redeveloped Tripura Sundari temple and beautified surroundings.

Taking to his official X account, CM Saha had said: “The enchanting nighttime supernatural view of the new infrastructure of Mother’s Abode, built under the Prasad Project! The mesmerizing complex, blessed by Mother’s grace, reflects the deep reverence and gratitude of the current government towards Mother. The entire population of Tripura is eagerly awaiting the grand inauguration by the world-renowned people’s leader, the illustrious Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji on the upcoming 22nd of September.”

The Chief Minister shared a video of the redeveloped Tripura Sundari temple and the beautified surroundings. A senior official of the Tourism Department said that under the PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme of the Union Tourism Ministry, the 524-year-old Tripura Sundari temple has been redeveloped at a cost of over Rs 52 crore. The Tripura government also contributed Rs 7 crore to this project.

The Tripura Sundari temple in southern Tripura’s Gomati district is an iconic temple and is a symbol of the state’s rich cultural heritage.

The Prime Minister’s inauguration of the redeveloped temple would be a testament to its significance, the official said.

The temple, built in 1501 by the state’s erstwhile king Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in Udaipur, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas in the country and the third such shrine in eastern India after the Kali temple in Kolkata’s Kalighat and the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

At the end of the 517-year rule by hundreds of kings, on October 15, 1949, the erstwhile princely state of Tripura came under the control of the Indian government after a merger agreement was signed between Kanchan Prabha Devi, then regent Maharani, and the Governor General.

–IANS

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