Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar jointly laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Janki Mandir at Punauradham in Sitamarhi, believed to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita. The initiative aims to boost religious tourism and preserve the cultural heritage of the region.
00:00The Union Home Minister is at the Sita Madhi Temple. Let's listen to what is happening there. Let's take a look.
00:30Shashi Bhushan, our reporter, is at the spot in Sita Madhi, Bihar, reporting on this story.
00:53Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, is at Bihar's Sita Madhi today to lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the Janaki Mandir in Panora Dham, which is considered the birthplace of Mata Sita.
01:23The Yomani Dhamin
01:53Rohit Singh is joining me on the phone line on this story.
02:09Rohit, Union Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar are at the ceremony
02:14laying the foundation stone for the temple dedicated to Goddess Sita, Nata Sita at the
02:21Panora Dham in Bihar.
02:23What more do we know about this Janaki temple?
02:26Can you tell us a little more about what is happening there?
02:29Well, Sri Anisha, important development taking place in Punaura Dham at this point of time
02:37which falls in Sita Mari district of Bihar where Union Home Minister Amit Shah is participating
02:44in the Bhoomi Poojan of the upcoming Sita temple which is going to be constructed in the state
02:50in the next one year.
02:51And very importantly, this event, this mega event is taking place just almost two to
02:58three months ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Bihar.
03:01So that is why we are seeing that the opposition is also hitting out at the event that is taking
03:07place where Amit Shah is present at this point of time.
03:09But let me tell you, it's raining heavily in Punaura Dham at this point of time.
03:14But Amit Shah has reached Punaura Dham and he is participating in this Bhoomi Poojan where
03:20Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar is also present and several central ministers from Bihar.
03:28They are also there.
03:29Samrath Chaudhi Deputy Chief Minister and several ministers in the Nitish Kumar cabinet are also
03:35participating in this entire event in November.
03:37It's a very important event because of the, this is a place, Punaura Dham is the exact place
03:44where Maa Sita was in fact born.
03:47She came out of the soil.
03:48And that is why Punaura Dham, the existing temple which is present there is not in a very
03:54good shape.
03:55And that is why keeping the importance of this place in mind, because remember, Ram temple
04:01has been constructed in Ayodhya.
04:03So now there was a growing clamor that a similar Sita temple should also be built in Sita Madhi.
04:09And just a few months back, the Bihar government and the Bihar cabinet approved about 880 crore
04:16rupees for construction of a new Sita temple.
04:19And today we are seeing that the Bhoomi Pooja for the new temple is taking place in Punaura
04:25Dham and the land has also been acquired for the construction of this temple.
04:30And as you can see in the visuals, Amit Shah is in Punaura Dham and he is indulging in
04:36all the Pooja which is taking place, the Bhoomi Pooja which is taking place there in Punaura
04:42Dham.
04:42And in the next about one year, two and a half years, it is expected that the entire
04:48temple will be constructed.
04:50But as I was telling you, the opposition claims that this was nothing but theatrics by the BJP
04:57to polarize the vote, the Hindu vote.
05:01And they are alleging that Amit Shah is in Pihar but he will not be talking about unemployment
05:06and the Berozgari and other issues but he will be only participating in this event and
05:12after the elections are over, the BJP leaders will stop coming to Bihar.
05:17So it's a war of words also that is taking place between the opposition and the ruling
05:20and dispensation.
05:21But as far as the importance of today is concerned, yes, you can see here in the pictures that
05:29the Bhoomi Poojan is going on and Amit Shah is being flanked by Misish Kumar, the chief
05:35minister and several ministers from the centre who are from Bihar and also several ministers
05:40of the state government who are participating and several sadhu sons also from across the country
05:46are also in attendance at this mega event.
05:50Anisha.
05:51Rohit, if you could tell us a little more about the importance of the dham, what exactly is
05:57in existence there?
05:58You said that there is an old temple that is existing at the site.
06:03What is the condition there?
06:04What exactly is the plan for this?
06:08Well, see, as far as religiously, it is concerned that after the Ram temple in Ayodhya was built
06:16in fact, a couple of years back, almost a couple of years back, there was a demand that
06:22Sita temple should also be built in Punahara dham because remember, Sita Madhi is the district,
06:28is the place where Ma Sita was born.
06:31And that is why at present, as I was telling you, there is a small temple, a Janki temple,
06:37which is present there.
06:38But the condition of that temple is not very nice.
06:42It's in shambles.
06:43The condition is not very good.
06:44And that is why the people of Bihar were demanding that after the Ram temple has been
06:49constructed, why not have a similar temple for Ma Janki, that is Ma Sita.
06:55And that is why the government also now, we are seeing that, acted upon the suggestion
07:00and the growing clamor that was taking place.
07:02And just a few months back, there was a proposal which was passed by the Bihar cabinet and the
07:10government also approved almost 900 crore rupees for the construction of a new temple.
07:15And now, today we are seeing that the ground laying, ground breaking ceremony is taking place.
07:22The Bhumi Poojan is taking place.
07:24And nobody less than Union Home Minister Amit Shah has come for this Bhumi Poojan.
07:30And several other dignitaries, chief ministers, ministers from the state as well as the center.
07:36So, Rohit, you also mentioned that there was opposition to this.
07:40The opposition parties in Bihar have raised questions about this particular project.
07:46What exactly is the opposition saying about this temple?
07:48Well, see, opposition leaders basically are maintaining that it's all the tactics and drama
07:57that is taking place to woo the Hindu voters in Bihar.
08:02Because, remember, Tejasvi Yadav, he was speaking today and he was hitting out at Amit Shah's visit
08:09to Punawadham and he says that, why doesn't the Union Home Minister speak about corruption
08:15which is rampant in Bihar?
08:16Why doesn't he speak about unemployment which is in Bihar?
08:21So, these are the core issues which are plaguing the state.
08:24But, according to Tejasvi Yadav, and he was alleging that whenever Amit Shah or Prime Minister Modi
08:29comes to Bihar, they don't speak on such contentious issues.
08:34But, they speak on other issues.
08:37And that is why we are seeing that the war of words is going on.
08:41And every time we have seen in the past also, whenever Prime Minister visits Bihar or Amit Shah
08:47visits Bihar, a flurry of attacks takes place from the opposition party, especially from Tejasvi Yadav.
08:54And that is what he is speaking today also when he questions that why, while Amit Shah will be in Punawadham today,
09:02why doesn't he speak on corruption, unemployment and these core issues?
09:09Anisha.
09:10Alright, thank you for that Rohit Singh.
09:13This is an important development in Bihar, but the opposition is questioning
09:17why have this foundation stone laying ceremony just months before the Bihar election.
