One of the Dwadasa Jyotirlingas, Kashi Vishwanath Temple (KVT) has set several new records during the recent two-month-long (due to extra month) auspicious Shrawan, thanks to the construction of grandeur Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor). It not only collected record collection of `18.89 crore as ‘daan’ (donation) but also saw the highest ever visit of devotees during Shrawan as over 1.63 crore devotees visited there during this period for offering prayers.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sunil Kumar Verma said after the inauguration of the corridor by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13,2021, continuous efforts have been made by the temple trust to improve the facilities for devotees. “It was the result of excellent arrangements made by the Yogi government to provide easy and safe ‘darshan’ to the devotees which helped the KVT set new paradigm of religious tourism in the entire country,” he said, adding that Kashi has emerged as the most favourite destination in the country in terms of religious tourism. “This is the reason why all records were broken here this year in the month of Shrawan, dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. This year, a total of 1,63,17,000 devotees visited the KVT, which is a record in itself. Not only this, the devotees made huge offerings to Baba Vishwanath Baba which was five times more than last year in the same auspicious month,” said the CEO.
According to him, special attention has been paid to drinking water, arrangements for shade, mats and other basic facilities as well as cleanliness. The Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust has 50 employees working in the ‘Sugam Darshan System’ to make better arrangements for visitors and tourists. Apart from this, 200 personnel have been deployed in the cleaning system and 100 others to provide better security and facilities to visitors. Lockers and help desks have been set up at various places in the corridor for the convenience of visitors. For the convenience of old and disabled devotees visiting the temple, arrangements for free wheelchairs have also been made. Apart from this, the temple trust is making various other arrangements for the convenience of visitors, Verma added.
He further said that a total of `16.89 crore has been offered during Shrawan this year which was five times more than last year when the total collection was `3,40,71,065 crore during this auspicious month.
“Ever since the corridor has expanded from 3,000 square feet to five lakh square feet it has become easier to have Baba’s darshan along with basic facilities in the premises. As a result, the number of devotees in the corridor has increased manifold due to which treasury of the temple has also increased,” he said.