Summary:
Varanasi, Dec 13 (PTI) Hindutva leader Sadhvi Ritambhara and several other seers hailed the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham on Monday as a "historic moment" and a step towards the "resurrection" of the ancient glory of the city.
A large number of saints and "mahants", drawn from all parts of India, attended the opening of the first phase of the mega project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"When history is being created, becoming a witness to it is an experience....
Kashi faced a lot of sorrows in the past, our faith was exploited and our centres of devotion were destroyed.
But, from time to time, people have also expressed their faith here," Ritambhara told PTI after attending the evening Ganga "aarti" at Dashashwamedh Ghat.
Modi, in his address, said the whole new complex of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham is not just a grand building, but a symbol of India"s "Sanatan culture", spiritual soul and its antiquity and traditions.