Uttarakhand’s Narayankoti Temple: Adopt a Heritage Project
Part of: GS Prelims and GS- III – Tourism sector
In news Recently, the Narayankoti temple (Uttarakhand) has been included under the Centre’s Adopt a Heritage project.
Adopt a Heritage Project:
Launched on 27th September, 2017 (World Tourism Day), it is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments.
Aim:
To develop tourism amenities at heritage/ natural/ tourist sites spread across India to make them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner.
Implementation:
The sites/monuments are selected on the basis of tourist footfall and visibility and can be adopted by private and public sector companies and individuals — known as Monument Mitras — for an initial period of five years.
The Monument Mitras are selected by the ‘oversight and vision committee,’ co-chaired by the Tourism Secretary and the Culture Secretary, on the basis of the bidder’s ‘vision’ for development of all amenities at the heritage site.
There is no financial bid involved.
The corporate sector is expected to use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for the upkeep of the site.
About Narayankoti Temple:
The temple is a group of ancient temples, about 2 km from Guptkashi on the Rudraprayag-Gaurikund highway.
This is the only place in the country which has nine planetary temples in a group that are a “symbol of nine planets”.
It is devoted to Lakshmi Narayana who is associated with Pandavas.
It is believed that these temples were constructed in the 9th century.
