Work On Purushottam, Khandoba, And Dhootpapeswar Temples To Begin In November
Mumbai, 18th October 2022: The State Government has decided to develop the temple premises along with the preservation and conservation of ancient temples. For this, a provision of Rs. 101 crores has been made in the budget for 2021.
Under the Conservation and Precinct Development Program of eight ancient temples in Maharashtra, the actual work of preservation and conservation of three temples, namely Khandoba Temple, Purushottam Temple, and Dhootpapeshwar will begin in November. With this approval, work orders will be issued in the first week of November, after which the work will be started immediately. Maharashtra has a large number of ancient temples, and with time these temples have fallen into disrepair.
The state government has decided to develop the temple premises along with the preservation and conservation of ancient temples. For this, a provision of Rs. 101 crores was made in the budget in 2021. This responsibility has been given to MSRDC, which is working on road development in the state. Accepting this responsibility, MSRDC has decided to preserve eight temples in the first phase and develop the premises in the second phase. Accordingly, a detailed development plan is prepared for eight temples, namely Gondeshwar in Nashik, Ekvira in Karla, Khandoba in Aurangabad, Shiv Mandir Markanda in Gadchiroli, Lord Purushottam Mandir in Majalgaon (Beed), Kopeshwar in Kolhapur, Anandeshwar Shiv Mandir in Amravati, and Dhootpapeshwar in Rajapur (Ratnagiri) through four consultants. Approval has also been taken.
After this approval, the work of all eight temples would be started by taking the tenders. But in August, tenders were floated for the first phase of work on three temples, namely Khandoba Temple, Purushottam Temple, and Dhootpapeshwar. The remaining five temples, namely Gondeshwar Temple, Ekvira Temple, Shiva Mandir Markanda, Kopeshwar Mandir, and Anandeshwar Shiv Mandir, are under the jurisdiction of the Archeology Department of India, and since they did not approve the work, tenders were not issued for it.
The tender issued in August for the work of these three temples has received a good response and the tenders have been finalized. A senior officer in MSRDC informed that the tender will be approved soon. In the first week of November, the work of preservation and conservation of temples in the first phase will be started immediately. The official also said that the work will be completed within two years from the start of the work i.e. by 2024. After the completion of this work, in the second phase, the temple premises development work will be started.
