LUCKNOW: The
BJP unit of Uttar Pradesh and tourism department of UP government are busy sprucing up the 17-acre plot surrounding the shrine at
Maghar in Eastern UP where 15th-century poet-saint
Kabir chose to die.
The reason: Prime minister
Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the place in
Sant Kabir Nagar district, 300 km away from Lucknow. While the exact date and year of Kabir's birth and death are unclear, UP tourism minister Rita Bahuguna
Joshi said that the UP government would soon fix a date as his death anniversary with an event to remember his contribution to religious beliefs in India.
A senior UP BJP leader said that the idea behind PM's visit is to send Kabir's message of oneness. "Many still believe that Varanasi alone is the place to attain salvation after death. It was Kabir who who visited Maghar and dispelled the notion that those who die here will be a donkey in the next life,” said a top BJP leader.
Maghar remains the only place in India where Hindu disciples of Kabir have built a temple while Muslims have a mazar (mausoeleum) dedicated to it. There is also a gurdwara that celeberate's Kabir life and extols his hymns mentioned in the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib. "Kabir is one saint who is revered across all religions whether Hinduism or Sikhism or beyond. So much that there was dispute whether to cremate or bury his body. It was the idea of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and persistence of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to include Kabir's shrine in our tourism sector. No prime minister or chief minister has ever held this place with such high esteem. Our government is sensitive to all religions and will bring Kabir ji's contributions to the
Bhakti movmement to life with a Kabir academy,” Joshi told TOI.
The Kabir circuit project, with a budget of Rs 25 crore, will have an interpretation centre, public gallery, exhibition area that will trace the journey of Kabir from his childhood. The archaeology department has been roped in by the UP government to curate all memorabilia from Varanasi or elsewhere on Kabir to be included at his mausoleum.
The visit will be important for the the BJP as it has the potential to woo strong weaver community as well as Vaishnava nagas as Kabir is widely believed to be the disciple of Bhakti poet-sant Swami Ramananda in Varanasi.
Known for devotional Vaishnavism with a strong bent to Advaita philosophy teaching that God is inside every person, Vaishnava nagas have a huge presence between Varanasi, Chandoli, Gorakhpur, and Sant Kabir Nagar,