The Chhattisgarh government has decided to rename three villages in the state's Raipur and Balodabazar-Bhatapara districts, which are of historical and spiritual significance, an official said on Monday.
Honoring the sentiments of local people, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has instructed officials to rename Chandkhuri village in the Raipur district and Giroudpuri and Sonakhan in Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, the official from the state public relations department said. These places will be renamed after great personalities and spiritual figures for whom they are famous, he said.
Chaudhuri, considered the birthplace of Lord Ram's mother Kaushalya, will be rechristened as Mata Kaushalya Dham Chandkhuri, while Giroudpuri, the popular pilgrimage site of Satnam Panth, will be called Baba Guru Ghasidas Dham Giroudpuri, he said. Sonakhan will be renamed Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Dham Sonakhan after a freedom fighter known for his significant contribution to the 1857 rebellion, the official said.
As a part of its ambitious 'Ram Van Gaman' tourism circuit project, the Congress government has renovated and beautified the temple of Mata Kaushalya located in the middle of a pond in Chandkhuri, he said.
As per mythology, Ram Van Gaman Path is the route taken by Lord Ram on his way to the 14-year exile, and it is believed that he had spent most of his time during his exile in Chhattisgarh. Giroudpuri is the birthplace of Satnam saint and social reformer Baba Guru Ghasidas, he said. Sonakhan is known for the valor of Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh, the first martyr of Chhattisgarh in the 1857 rebellion. Singh was hanged by the British on December 10, 1857, at Jaistambh Chowk in Raipur, he added.
The renaming of these places has been a long-standing demand of public representatives and locals, the official said, adding that soon a gazette notification will be published in this regard.
