Preparation for construction of ‘Nath Nagri Yojana’ corridor in Bareilly on the lines of Kashi
Due to the presence of ancient Shiva temples around Bareilly city, Shiva devotees have been considering it as ‘Nath Nagri’ for many decades.
On the lines of Kashi, a grand corridor will be constructed to connect the ancient seven Shiva temples of Bareilly under the ‘Nath Nagri Yojana’. After getting the green signal from the government to implement this scheme, efforts are being made to get it on the ground soon by preparing its detailed project (DPR).
Due to the presence of ancient Shiva temples around the city of Bareilly, devotees of Shiva have been considering it as ‘Nath Nagri’ for many decades. In history, the name of Bareilly was earlier Bamboo Bareilly which is now known as Bareilly. Devotees of Shiva believe that due to the presence of Shiva temples around the city, Lord Shiva himself has been sitting here to protect them from every crisis and fulfill their wishes. In the month of Sawan, there is a fair-like atmosphere at all the Shiva temples. Many devotees of Shiva perform Jalabhishek in all the ancient Shiva temples by bringing water from Kanwar.
Historian Giriraj Nandan told that the Bankhandinath temple in the east of the city is very ancient. He said that according to legends, there used to be a forest here, in which the Pandavas had established the Shivling during their exile. Similarly, it is believed about Dhopeshwarnath temple located in the cantonment area in the south direction that Dhumra Rishi and many other sages did penance here. Apart from this, Alakhnath temple near the fort in the north and Madinath temple in the south, Tapeshwarnath temple in Subhashnagar and Trivatinath temple in Premnagar are included in the ancient pagodas.
Many folk tales are associated with all these ancient temples. Apart from these ancient temples, the recently built Pashupatinath temple on the lines of Kathmandu also has a lot of recognition among the people. Historian Nandan says that the written history about ancient temples is very limited. Governments have now started paying attention to temples.
He said that after research on these historical temples, many new facts related to them are likely to come to light. He said that where there is no written history, historians believe only on folk tales. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the common people regarding the Nath Nagri Yojana. People have already started demanding to name mohallas and colonies around Shiva temples after different names of Shiva.
Umesh Gautam, who was elected mayor for the second time in the recently held civic polls, said that he would try to keep the names of the mohallas around the temples after Lord Shiva as per the wishes of the people. In this regard, he will put forward a proposal in the corporation board meeting. Divisional Commissioner Saumya Aggarwal said that the work of putting Nath Nagri scheme on the ground will be started from Bankhandinath temple.
He visited with the officials of Bareilly Development Authority and instructed to remove the encroachment around this temple. Apart from this, the work of road construction will be started soon. Tourism will get a big boost if this scheme is implemented.
He said that wide and chamacham roads would be constructed to connect all the temples. Arrangements will be made for vehicle parking places, toilets for women etc. near all the temples so that the tourists do not face any kind of inconvenience. Arrangements will also be made to ply e-buses, e-rickshaws and other convenient vehicles on the corridor roads connecting the Shiva temples.
