Bihar polls: NDA promises spiritual city at Goddess Sita's birthplace in Sitamarhi district

Patna, Oct 31 (PTI) The NDA, which released its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls on Friday, promised that it would develop 'Punaura Dham Janki Mandir', considered the birthplace of Goddess Sita in Sitamarhi district, as a world-class spiritual city.

The announcement comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah had, in August, laid the foundation stone for the construction of a grand 'Mata Janaki Temple' at Punaura Dham.

The temple, to be spread over 67 acres of land, is being developed on the lines of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

"The NDA, if voted to power again after the assembly polls, will develop the sacred birthplace of Maa Janaki in Sitamarhi into a world-class spiritual city named 'Sitapuram'," the manifesto said.

Every year, a large number of pilgrims visit the site, which is about 5 km west of the Sitamarhi district.

The Bihar cabinet had on July 1 sanctioned Rs 882.87 crore for the integrated development of the temple complex.

Out of Rs 882.87 crore, Rs 137 crore would be spent on the development of the old temple and the premises, while Rs 728 crore would be deployed for tourism-related development works, officials said.

According to them, Rs 16 crore would be spent on carrying out comprehensive maintenance for 10 years.

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) will implement the project.

The state government had constituted a nine-member trust christened as 'Shree Janaki Janam Bhumi Punaura Dham Mandir Nyas Samiti', and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had, in June, unveiled the final design of the development of the 'Mata Janaki Temple'.

The state government had also approved the appointment of a Noida-based private firm as the 'design consultant' for the development of a grand temple.

The private entity also served as the consultant for master planning and architectural services of the 'Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The beautification work for the Maa Janaki Kund will also be carried out there, the officials said.

A separate 'parikrama path' around the temple, a 'yagna' mandap, museum, auditorium, cafeteria, sporting arena for children and 'dharamshala' will be developed at the temple complex. PTI PKD BDC