Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning offered prayers at Uttarkhand’s Kedarnath shrine, donning a ‘Chola Dora’ outfit gifted to him by women of Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba.

The traditional pahadi outfit in white colour and sporting fine hand embroidery was gifted to the prime minister during his recent visit to Himachal. PM Modi, on receiving the gift had promised the women that he would wear it at the first instance during a visit to a cold region.

By wearing the outfit at today’s visit he fulfilled that promise.

Prime Minister Modi performed puja at Kedarnath Temple today. He was accompanied by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. PM also visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal at Kedarnath.

Prime Minister is on a visit to the Himalayan state to lay the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore.

Upon his arrival at the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh.

The prime minister also reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath in Kedarnath during his visit. The PM will lay the foundation stone of the Kedarnath Ropeway Project.

From Kedarnath, Prime Minister reached Badrinath and performed pooja at the Shri Badrinath Temple.

Reviewing the progress of the development work of the riverfront, followed by laying the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects at Mana village and reviewing the progress of development work of arrival plaza and lakes are on the agenda of the prime minister.

The ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 Km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present, to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement.

The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmental friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to creation of multiple employment opportunities as well.

Foundation stone of road widening projects worth around Rs 1000 crore will also be laid during the visit. The two road widening projects – from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) – shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.

Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site – Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance.