Shinde gave consent to provide land for building Kamakhya temple in Maharashtra: Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde has given consent to a proposal for providing land for the construction of a Kamakhya temple in the western state.

While interacting with a group of visiting journalists from Maharashtra recently, Sarma said he plans to build a Namghar, a place of worship for Vaishnavites, along with the temple.

"We want to build a good Kamakhya temple in Maharashtra. I have already spoken to (Eknath) Shinde. Maharashtra CM is a big devotee of Maa Kamakhya," he said in a video of the meeting shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.

महाराष्ट्र में माँ कामाख्या का भव्य मंदिर बनेगा।

I recently interacted with journalists from Maharashtra on several issues. You can watch the entire interaction on YouTube 👇https://t.co/hEfdnnX4Gd pic.twitter.com/VgVH5AZe3V

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 13, 2023

The Kamakhya temple atop the Neelachal hill on the bank of the Brahmaputra river is one of the biggest and oldest Shakti Peeths in the country. This temple of Goddess Kamakhya is an important pilgrimage centre for tantric worshippers and Hindus.

When Shinde had visited Assam last time, Sarma requested him to provide land to construct a Kamakhya temple and Namghar in Maharashtra, the Assam chief minister said.

"Shinde invited me to Mumbai to discuss the matter of offering land. I have not got time yet to visit. Whenever I go, I will carry forward this discussion," he said.

Sarma also said the Assam government has land at Navi Mumbai and had initially planned to construct the temple there.

"However, when Shinde became CM, I hoped that we could build a beautiful temple if we get a better land," he added.

Asked whether Shinde will pay a visit to the Kamakhya temple before the Lok Sabha polls next year, Sarma said: "I have seen a deep faith for Maa on his face. I told him to keep coming because the relationship between the son and mother will then remain good." The Assam CM also informed the visiting journalists that the state government is developing a Kamakhya corridor at Rs 600 crore like the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor.