Lucknow, Feb 13 (PTI): As a part of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's ambitious project of construction of Kedareshwar temple in Etawah, a 'Shaligram shila', which arrived here from Nepal, was worshipped by top leaders of the party on Tuesday.
Akhilesh Yadav said the arrival of 'Lord Shri Shaligram' should be auspicious for the country and the state and welfare of the people. Devshila is welcomed wholeheartedly with this sacred wish, he added.
SP leaders including Akhilesh Yadav prayed at the 'Shaligram shila' from which a 'shivling' will be carved and installed in the temple at Etawah.
In a post on X, Akhilesh Yadav said, "We wholeheartedly welcome with a sacred wish that the arrival of Lord Shaligram be auspicious for the country and the state and beneficial for the people." The worship of the 'Shaligram shila' was done in the presence of party leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav's wife MP Dimple Yadav, Rajya Sabha candidate Jaya Bachchan, state president Naresh Uttam Patel, former UP Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey and chief whip in the assembly Manoj Pandey.
At the SP headquarters, while Dimple Yadav broke the coconut, Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders offered prayers according to rituals.
As Akhilesh Yadav got down from the truck after offering prayers, the party workers welcomed him by chanting 'Har Har Mahadev'.
In a statement, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said amidst the chanting of mantras by priest Pandit Lalta Prasad Shukla, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, and Jaya Bachchan performed aarti and offered 'bhog' in front of the sacred stone.
On this occasion, a large number of MLAs, party officials, and workers including national general secretary Shivpal Yadav were also present.
Chaudhary said, "Srimadhu Botta of Andhra Pradesh and Kripashankar of Jaunpur brought the sacred Shaligram stone from Nepal to Lucknow last night. Such rocks are found only in the Kali Gandaki River of Nepal. These are called Devshila.
The present Devshila is 7 feet high, 6 feet wide and weighs 13 tonnes. Shri Kedareshwar temple is being constructed in an area of 10 acres in Etawah. This temple will be a replica of Lord Kedarnath temple. This is an ambitious project of Shri Akhilesh Yadav and is the main indicator of his faith," he said in the statement.
Manoj Pandey told reporters, "A huge Kedareshwar temple of Lord Shiv will be built in Etawah. The 'shivling' is about to be built from the stone of Shaligram which has been brought from Nepal. From here, it will be taken to Etawah." He added that the Shaligram stone was worshipped and prayers were offered for the happiness, peace, harmony and equality in the country and in the world.
An SP leader said the Shaligram stone reached the SP headquarters from Nepal in a truck on Monday.
There was an atmosphere of celebration at the arrival of Devshila at the Samajwadi Party state headquarters. There was a long queue to offer floral tributes to the stone. They included women, minorities and youth, the SP spokesperson said. PTI NAV KSS KSS
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)