With a ₹100 crore budget, Gujarat and the Centre are jointly developing the historical and ancient town of Vadnagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birth place, as a major tourist hub. The town full of sites related to Hinduism and Buddhism is being showcased as a heritage destination.
Among the eight projects in the works are the Vadnagar railway station, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi once sold tea while helping his father who used to run a tea stall at the railway station during his childhood. The projects cover Vadnagar’s famous Kirti Toran, Sharmishtha lake, Hatkeshwar Temple and archaeological sites.
On February 3, Gujarat Chief Secretary J.N. Singh and Union Culture Secretary Raghavendra Singh visited the town to inspect the projects being developed under the Union government’s Swadesh Darshan scheme. A team of archaeologists and other experts accompanied the senior officials.
“There are eight tourism-related projects which are being developed in Vadnagar. We are developing a heritage circuit from Vadnagar to Modhera Sun Temple and the historical step well in Patan,” Dr. Singh told The Hindu .
The famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang who visited the place around AD 640 referred to it as Anandpur. He has recorded the existence of 10 Buddhist monasteries and said that about 100 monks were staying in them.“The government of India has allotted ₹100 crore to fund the tourism-related projects in Vadnagar and develop a heritage circuit in North Gujarat,” said S.J. Hyder, Gujarat’s Principal Secretary, Tourism.
