Threefold jump in pilgrims at Kashi Vishwanath Temple after PM Modi’s corridor inauguration

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the sacred corridor in Varanasi six months ago, there has been more than a threefold increase in pilgrims visiting the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi on peak days, up to 5-6 lakh daily.

An official document from the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Special Area Development Board has released the figures while proposing to build a new state-of-the-art Varanasi Gallery and City Museum inside the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor to improve the pilgrim experience.

January, Basant Panchami, Maha Shivratri, Rangbhari Ekadashi, Holi, Shravan Mondays, Diwali, and Dev Deepawali are the peak days at the temple. The document showed that on Shivratri Day, March 1, a record 6.5 lakh people visited the temple and corridor. The daily tourist surge has climbed from around 35,000 to 70,000 on non-peak days. On December 13, 2021, the Prime Minister launched the 50,000-square-meter Kashi Vishwanath Dham project.

‘In order to provide enhanced experience to the visitors of the transformed temple precinct’, the Board is currently planning to build a cutting-edge museum and gallery with digital and physical displays based on cutting-edge technology and immersive experiences. This will appear inside the Kashi Vishwanath temple’s current hallway.

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Yatri Suvidha Kendras, guesthouses, a hospice (Mumukshu Bhavan), a library, museum, gallery, and a spiritual book centre are already available to pilgrims along the corridor. ‘With added user facilities in and around the temple along with increased capacity of the precinct, the temple Parishad envisages multi-fold increase in visitation numbers’, the document mentioned.

As per the document, the two new projects will demonstrate the ‘spiritual legacy of the city, history of the making of Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple, cultural heritage of Varanasi, legacy of classical music, India’s preeminence as the oldest living civilisation and achievements of India’. 3D projection mapping installations, interactive kiosks, interactive surfaces, sensor-based installations, 360-degree virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D holography installation, and film projections will all be utilised.