Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 28 (ANI): With the vow of constructing a Ram Temple in Ayodhya having been fulfilled, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath received a grand welcome in Gorakhpur on Saturday.

Youths, women, elders and children danced and waved the saffron flag with the image of Shri Ram on it to greet the ‘Gorakshpeethadhishwar.’ They kept chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Thanks Yogiji’ amid the beating of drums all the while. The people also showered flowers on the Chief Minister throughout his journey from the airport to the temple. Groups of folk artists also performed at various places to welcome the CM.

‘Gorakshpeethadhishwar’ and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accepted the greetings of the people by smiling and shaking hands with them.

It was Adityanath’s first visit to Gorakhpur after the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Lalla in the grand and divine Ram Temple on January 22, a press release said.

Gorakshpeethadhishwar Yogi Adityanath keeps coming to Gorakhpur regularly, despite his busy schedule as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the last seven years. Notably, Gorakshpeeth has played a pivotal role in the Ram temple’s conception, the prolonged struggle and finally its construction.

“At the time of the divine event of Shri Ram Lalla’s appearance in 1949, Brahmlin Gorakshpeethadhishwar Mahant Digvijaynath led the movement, which was carried forward by Brahmlin Gorakshpeethadhishwar Mahant Avedyanath in the nineties. The dream and last wish of Mahant Avedyanath, who was the lifelong president of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mukti Yagya, was to build the Shri Ram temple,” the release said.

His successor Yogi Adityanath, who chose the path of renunciation with the inspiration of the Ram Mandir movement, made this wish the mission of his life, the release said.

During his parliamentary tenure, Yogi raised the issue of the Ram Temple even in the house and after becoming the Chief Minister, following the Supreme Court’s verdict, he worked wholeheartedly to fulfil his Guru’s dream to build the temple on the site, the release said.

Under his supervision, the foundation stone of Shri Ram Temple was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020.

People thronged the streets to greet the CM.

“People of all ages formed a human chain at the gate of Dharamshala Market, Vishwakarma Temple, Tarang Crossing, Tarang-Gorakhnath Overbridge Road, Jhulelal Temple, Shri Ramjanaki Hanuman Temple, Gorakhnath Temple and entered the temple premises, showering flowers on the CM,” the release further said.

Folk artists also performed to congratulate the Chief Minister. At many places, NCC and Scout cadets also greeted the CM.

On reaching the Gorakhnath temple, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath worshipped Guru Gorakhnath in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Then he went to the Samadhi site of ‘Brahmalin’ Peethadhishwar Mahant Avedyanath where he became emotional and paid homage to his guru.

MP Ravi Kishan Shukla, Mayor Dr Manglesh Srivastava, MLA Vipin Singh, and Mahant Ravindradas of Kalibari were present among others on the occasion. (ANI)