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KV Dham completes one year, with record inflow of devotees and offerings
In the past one year, ever since the construction was completed and it was opened to devotees and curious tourists, the Dham has witnessed the inflow of around 7.34 crore people and received offerings in gold, silver and cash worth ₹100 crore, which officials said was rarely recorded before.
VARANASI: The newly constructed Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, also known as Kashi Vishwanath Dham, completed one year on Tuesday. KV Dham officials and those who ensure its upkeep called this a year of achievements that took Kashi Vishwanath Dham’s popularity to the next level.
In the past one year, ever since the construction was completed and it was opened to devotees and curious tourists, the Dham has witnessed the inflow of around 7.34 crore people and received offerings in gold, silver and cash worth ₹100 crore, which officials said was rarely recorded before.
Sunil Kumar Verma, chief executive officer (CEO), Kashi Vishwanath Dham, said, “Over 7 crore devotees have visited Kashi Vishwanath temple to seek blessings of Lord Shiva. This is a whopping number. Also, the temple received offerings of over Rs100 crores, including cash of over ₹50 crores (around 40 per cent of cash received online), at least 60 kg gold, 10 kg of silver and 1500 kg copper.”
He said the offerings, when compared to that of the previous year, were 500 percent more.
If records are to be believed, the temple witnessed an inflow of 4,84,2716 tourists in December 2021. In January this year, Kashi Vishwanath Dham recorded flow of around 74,59,471 devotees. In February, March, April, May June, July, August, September, October, November and December (till date) the number was 6856142, 7171163, 6587264, 6290511, 6916981, 7681561, 6711499, 4013688, 3830643, 3870403 and 1350000 respectively.
Kashi Vishwanath Project at a glance
Kashi Vishwanath Corridor–the foundation stone of the project was laid in 2019 and the overall cost of the project was estimated as ₹ 800 crore. Over 300 properties were acquired to implement the grand plan and about 1,400 shopkeepers, tenants and homeowners were rehabilitated. The project aimed at ensuring easy movement of pilgrims and devotees between the ghats and the temple. Earlier, they had to pass through congested streets to reach the temple.
The first phase of the project, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated, was built at a cost of ₹ 339 crore, spread across an area of about 5 lakh sq feet and comprising 23 buildings.
Officials with KV Dham said the management had pressed in 200 employees to ensure cleanliness on the premises, Also, 100 security personnel had been deputed to ensure safety of the devotees.
