Uttarakhand’s Narayankoti Temple: Adopt a Heritage Project

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Narayankoti temple (Uttarakhand) has been included under the Centre’s Adopt a Heritage project.

Adopt a Heritage Project:

About:

• Launched on 27^thSeptember, 2017 (World Tourism Day), it is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments.

Aim:

• To develop tourism amenities at heritage/ natural/ tourist sites spread across India to make them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner.

Narayankoti Temple:

• The temple is a group of ancient temples, about 2 km from Guptkashi on the Rudraprayag-Gaurikund highway.
• This is the only place in the country which has nine planetary temples in a group that are a “symbol of nine planets”.
• It is devoted to Lakshmi Narayana who is associated with Pandavas.
• It is believed that these temples were constructed in the 9^th