Kolhapur: Police have appealed to devotees not to visit the Mahalaxmi temple between 10 am and 11 am on Saturday to avoid inconvenience caused by the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Kolhapur police issued a statement clarifying that the temple will not be closed for darshan during the visit. “During the visit of Shah, the temple will not shut for darshan; however, to ensure safety arrangements, devotees should visit the temple at other times,” the statement said.
Shah, along with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, and several other state ministers from the Maharashtra government, will attend the foundation-laying ceremony of the new Pradakshina Marg and the conservation of an old temple within the Mahalaxmi temple premises.
Chandrakant Patil, senior BJP leader and state higher education minister, said, “The Union Home Minister is a devotee of Goddess Mahalaxmi. He has approved Rs 1,500 crore from the Centre, out of which Rs 900 crore will be spent on land acquisition and Rs 600 crore on beautification works. He wished to be at the temple on the first day of the start of the works, and accordingly, he is arriving. We are also preparing for other works at the temple, for which we are confident that the Union Home Minister will help us get funds. After the event, he will address a rally at Kolhapur titled ‘Dhanyawad Amitbhai’ for sanctioning funds for the Mahalaxmi temple, and then at Ichalkaranji, he will address a rally on the completion of 12 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Stay updated with the latest Kolhapur news. Download the TOI App.
