Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that our government had resolved to take the elders of the state on pilgrimage by flight. Today is the day for a resolution to be fulfilled and a dream to come true. He said that man, along with material progress, wants spiritual peace.
India is a religion dominated country, pilgrimage in the path of devotion has been considered an effective way to see God. Pilgrimage by air has been started with the aim that our elders can attain spiritual peace by going on pilgrimage in less time conveniently. At present, one member from a family can go on pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana.
From the next visit, arrangements will be made for more than one member from a family to go on pilgrimage, so that elders will be able to get the virtue of pilgrimage along with their spouse. Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana by rail and plane will continue.
Chouhan was talking to the pilgrims on the launch of the journey by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana from Raja Bhoj airport. The Chief Minister inaugurated the Teerth Yatra scheme by lighting a lamp. Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to provide air travel to poor elderly pilgrims. 32 elderly pilgrims, including 24 male and 8 female pilgrims, participated in the first pilgrimage to Prayagraj by plane.
The Chief Minister welcomed the elderly pilgrims by presenting them with shawls and flowers and garlanding them. He gave a replica of the boarding pass to the pilgrim Krishna Choubey symbolically. Chief Minister Chouhan sought blessings from the elders. Chief Minister Chouhan also got a group photo taken with the elderly pilgrims while the pilgrims entered the airport amidst beating of drums. The Chief Minister flagged off a regular Indigo flight carrying the elderly on pilgrimage to Prayagraj from the airport. Overwhelmed elderly people going to Prayagraj by plane blessed Chief Minister Chouhan.
Chouhan said that our elders are leaving for pilgrimage today by plane. It is believed that one becomes pure simply by taking the name of Ram from our mouth, heart becomes pure by Brahma Gyan, feet by going on pilgrimage and hands by doing charity. Pilgrimage has great importance in Indian culture. The three paths of attaining Bhagwat have been described as Bhakti Marg, Gyan Marg and Karma Marg respectively. Immersion in the devotion of God is the path of devotion, pilgrimage gives this feeling. The elders of the state are being sent by plane on a pilgrimage to Prayagraj, the confluence of Ganga-Yamuna-Saraswati rivers, to give them a sense of spiritual peace and joy.
Pilgrimage for the elderly by plane is an attempt to realize PM Modi’s vision that ‘those wearing slippers will also be able to travel by air.’
Chouhan said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that our government has made such arrangements that even those wearing slippers will be able to travel by air. Making arrangements for pilgrimage by plane under the Mukhyamantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana is an attempt to make Prime Minister Modi’s vision come true. These yatras will continue on a regular basis. He told that so far 7 lakh 82 thousand elderly people have gone on pilgrimage by rail under the scheme. The sequence of pilgrimages by plane will continue. Along with Prayagraj, such yatras will continue to be organized to Shirdi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Gangasagar by plane. Along with this, the works of development and welfare will continue to improve the lives of the people of the state.
Culture Minister Usha Thakur, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prabhuram Chowdhary, Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, Ex-Protem Speaker and MLA Rameshwar Sharma, MLA Vishnu Khatri, Krishna Gaur, Bhopal Mayor Malti Rai and other representatives and officers were present.
