State to spend ₹4,820 cr to develop religious sites

The decision to spend ₹4,820 crore on religious sites comes at the time when the state government is struggling with a financial crunch

MUMBAI: The state government will spend ₹4,820 crore on the restoration, conservation and development of major religious sites across Maharashtra. The decision was taken at a meeting of the council of ministers in Ahilyanagar on Tuesday. The state will also set up a body to oversee the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela to be held in 2027. It will be set up on the lines of the Prayagraj Authority of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in Nashik

Religious sites that will get a makeover include the Shri Tuljabhavani Temple in Dharashiv, for which the state government has approved ₹1,865 crore. Tuljabhavani was the reigning deity of the Maratha empire. The Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur will be restored at a cost of ₹1,445 crore. Mahurgad, a religious site in Nanded district with three mountains in Mahur (the Renuka Mahar Devi Mata Temple is one of the three temples at the site), will be developed at a cost of ₹829 crore, while the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in Nashik, and the Shree Jyotiba Devasthan in Kolhapur, have been allotted ₹275 crore and ₹259 crore, respectively.

The government has also earmarked ₹147 crore for the development of seven Ashtavinayak Temples in Maharashtra: Mayureshwar Temple (Morgaon), Siddhivinayak Temple (Siddhatek), Ballaleshwar Temple (Pali), Varad Vinayak Temple (Mahad), Chintamani Temple (Theur), Vighneshwar Ozar Temple (Ozar) and Mahaganapati Temple (Ranjangaon). The Girijatmaj Lenyadri Temple, the eighth Ashtavinayak temple in the state, is not in the list.

On establishing an authority for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela at Nashik in 2027, Fadnavis said, “A draft ordinance has been approved to establish the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority. The 12-yearly spiritual event is expected to attract millions of devotees. Their participation is expected to be four to give times higher than the 2015 turnout of 2.5 crore.”