PM offers prayers at Gujarat's Mahakali temple in Pavagadh, hoists ‘dhwaja’ atop shrine

New Delhi, Jun 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Mahakali temple at Pavagadh in the Panchmahals district for the first time after it was refurbished. It is one of the oldest temples in the region and attracts pilgrims in large numbers.

On the occasion, PM performed a puja at the temple before hoisting 'dhwaja' at full mast atop the shrine after decades. Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel was also present during the inaguration.

The flag was not unfurled for five centuries, and not even during 75 years after Independence, he said. The shikhara or spire of the temple was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud Begada nearly 500 years ago. It has been restored now as part of the redevelopment of the 11th century temple, situated on the Pavagadh hill. Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Mahakali temple, which is nestled within Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site, and attracts millions of devotees every year.

The original spire of the temple was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud Begada during his invasion of Champaner in the 15th century, a temple functionary said. Soon after, a dargah or shrine of Sadanshah Peer, a Muslim saint, was built on top of the temple, he said. "To hoist a flag, a pole on a spire is needed.

As there was no spire, no flag was put up all these years. When the redevelopment started a few years ago, we requested the caretakers of the dargah to allow it to be shifted so that the spire could be rebuilt," he said. "We had an amicable settlement and the dargah was relocated to a place close to the temple," he said.

The redevelopment, which included widening of the steps leading to the temple from the foothill and beautification of the surrounding area, cost around Rs 125 crore. The new temple complex is built over three levels and spread over 30,000 square feet.

The Prime Minister will stay at Rajbhavan in Gandhinagar tonight.

Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of development projects worth 21 thousand crore rupees in Vadodara. He will participate in the 'Gujarat Gaurav Abhiyan' program and address the large gathering at Vadodara tomorrow.