Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Scheme

• 25 Jun 2024

Why in News?

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini announced that the Haryana government is facilitating pilgrims to visit Ayodhya and other sacred sites through the Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra scheme.

Key Points

• Under the scheme, members of families with annual income less than ₹1.80 lakh who are more than 60 years of age are taken for pilgrimages to Ayodhya, Varanasi, and other holy sites.
• According to the CM, the state government has taken several steps to boost religious tourism in the State.
  • Kurukshetra is becoming a center for religious tourism, attracting visitors from across the country and internationally.
  • There are endeavors to explore the tourism opportunities in other locations as well.

Varanasi

• Varanasi is in southeastern Uttar Pradesh state. It is located on the left bank of the Ganges (Ganga) River and is one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism.
• It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Its early history is that of the first Aryan settlement in the middle Ganges valley.
  • Varanasi was the capital of the kingdom of Kashi during the time of the Buddha (6th century BCE), who gave his first sermon nearby at Sarnath.
  • The city remained a centre of religious, educational, and artistic activities as attested by the celebrated Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang, who visited it in about 635 CE.
• Varanasi subsequently declined during three centuries of Muslim occupation, beginning in 1194.
• Varanasi became an independent kingdom in the 18^th century, and under subsequent British rule it remained a commercial and religious centre.
  • In 1910, the British made Varanasi a new Indian state, with Ramnagar (on the opposite bank) as headquarters but with no jurisdiction over the city of Varanasi.
• In 1947, after Indian independence, the Varanasi state became part of the state of Uttar Pradesh.