Uttar Pradesh
PM to Inaugurate Sports Facilities in Varanasi
- 18 Oct 2024
- 2 min read
Why in News?
Recently, Prime Minister Modi is set to inaugurate new sports facilities in Varanasi, enhancing opportunities for athletes.
Key Points
- PM Modi will inaugurate phases 2 and 3 of the National Center of Excellence at Dr. Sampurnanand Stadium, Varanasi.
- The upgrade cost Rs 325.65 crore, enhancing infrastructure for over 20 sports disciplines.
- The complex includes multi-level courts, swimming pools, athletic tracks, and spaces for indoor/outdoor sports, para-sports, and recovery zones.
- PM Modi will also launch development projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore
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 18th 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.
