After Diwali in Ayodhya, UP will celebrate Holi in Barsana: CM

Lucknow, Dec 9 (IANS) After the grand Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya, the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department will now celebrate Holi in Barsana, the birth place of Lord Krishna's consort Radha, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Saturday.

Speaking in Naimisharanya, a religious hot spot believed to be the abode of Lord Vishnu, Adityanath also declared that the state government would give Rs 100 crore for development of the place.

Referring to the evening 'arti' on the banks of Saryu in Ayodhya, he urged the holy men in Naimisharanya to do regular evening arti on the banks of river Gomti.

Adityanath urged the people to ensure that the holy rivers were not polluted any more. He said in order to ensure that, one would have to connect spiritually and religiously to the rivers.

"If there were no rivers left, where would our culture be," he said.

He also said that that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was committed to development of religious places, without any bias.

"Development of religious places, projecting the state's pilgrim spots on the world tourism map is our priority," he said. "In addition, we would like to see this activity also create jobs," the Chief Minister said.

Pointing out how under his watch, the Kanwar Yatra, went off peacefully despite the 4.5 crore Shiva devotees out on the roads, Adityanath said the state government wanted to promote communal harmony.

In October, Adityanath along with his cabinet colleagues had celebrated a mega Deepotsav in Ayodhya, in a bid to "recreate the treta yug Diwali" and to promote the city as a tourist destination.