But there was widespread whisking. Satpal Maharaj, the Tourism Minister, organized a virtual meeting with officials in the Tourism Department, Garhikant, and District Tourism Development Officers (DTDO) of 13 districts, and announced that it is necessary to inform tourists and devotees visiting Uttarakhand about all ancient and historic temples so that tourism can be promoted in the state.
The DTDO of 13 districts attended the online meeting and maintained the details of the ancient temples in their respective districts in front of the tourism minister Satpal Maharaj. During the meeting, the Tourism Minister told that he has requested Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Governor of Maharashtra to produce movies on the life of famous personalities of Uttarakhand such as Nain Singh Rawat, Ajit Doval, Tharu, Boxa Caste, Raja Malusai, etc. that inspire us. He also said that he had requested Bhagat Singh Koshyari to arrange a meeting with famous film producers and directors in the near future.
A total of 24 Lord Shiva temples, namely Shiv Kapileshwar and Jageshwar in Almora, Patal Bhumi in Pithoragarh, Baijnath and Bagnath in Bageshwar, Kanteshwar in Champawat, Bhimeshwar in Nainital, Moteshwar Mahadev in Udham Singh Nagar, Koteshwar Mahadev in Tehri, Vishwanath and Kashi Vishwanath in Uttarakashi, Daksha Prajapati in Haridwar, Rudranath Shiva and Kalpeshwar Shiva in Chamoli, Kyankaleshwar in Pauri, Nilakand, Ekeshwar and Lakhamandal Shiva in Dehradun, and the temple towns of Rudraprayag and Pancha Kedar were identified for promoting and development of tourism.
Other temples such as Badrinath and Chhatargula in Almora, Ram and Narayan Kali in Almora, Vishnu and Kotli in Pithoragarh, Mool Narayan in Bageshwar, Narayan Koti in Rudraprayag, Panch Badri in Chamoli, Narayan Shila in Haridwar, Satya Narayan in Dehradun, Raghunath in Devprayag, Raghunath Galbanar, Vishnu and Samuh Devalgarh in Pauri were also identified as ancient Vishnu shrines for Vaishnav circuit.
Tourism Secretary, Dilip Jawalkar further added, “Ancient Nag Devta temples like Nagnath and Pigali Nag in Champawat, Bedi Nag, and Beri Nag in Pithoragarh, Karkotak in Nainital, Feni Nag and Dhauli Nag in Bageshwar, Sem Mukheem and Nag temples in Tehri, Nagraj temples in Mussoorie and Dehradun, and Danda Nagaraja Mandir in Pauri, were also added for tourism development.”
As for the Navagraha circuit, temples dedicated to Manila Devi, Katar, Chittai Goljew and Gairan in Almora, Guru Brihaspati in Nainital, Aditya in Ramak Champawat, Shani Dev Maharaj in Uttarakashi, Kharsali and Rahu in Pauri, Golu Devta temples in Champawat and Ghorakhal of Nainital, were identified as the tourism spots at the meeting.
In the meeting, for the increment of the number of tourists in the state of Uttarakhand, directions were given to identify the Sikh Shrines, Buddha places, Siddhpeeths, and Lakhudayar that can boost the tourism in the state.