Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 31 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday visited Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura on the occasion of Janmashtami.
The UP CM offered prayers in the temple and attended 'Krishnotsav' organised by the temple. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the celebration of festivals like Janmashtami is a symbol of our spiritual and cultural heritage that needs to be preserved.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new direction to the country. The feelings and faith suppressed for centuries are now reawakened. The previous governments which were earlier afraid to go to temples, due to their fear of being labelled as communal, are now claiming Ram and Krishna as their gods," he stated.
Adityanath added that Ayodhya was renewed after PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Ram Mandir there. "I visited Ayodhya with President Ram Nath Kovind yesterday. He visited Ramleela there and he is the first President to have visited Ramleela in Ayodhya since independence," he said.
"PM Modi is the first Prime Minister to have witnessed Ramleela in Ayodhya since independence," he added.
Later in the day, the UP CM also attended the Janmashtami programme at Lucknow and extended the greetings for the festival to the people there. (ANI)