U'khand: Pashupatinath temple to be built at Gen Rawat's ancestral village

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Thursday at the ancestral village of the country's first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat for the construction of a temple dedicated to Pashupatinath - the revered animal incarnation of lord Shiva.

The ceremony was conducted by former chief minister and Pauri MP Tirath Singh Rawat and Parmartha Niketan chief Swami Chidananda Saraswati at Sain village in Pauri district.

The temple dedicated to Pashupatinath will be constructed at the behest of an NGO based in Latur in Maharashtra named Harivansh Rai Bachchan Prabodhan Pratishthan.

It will be a smaller replica of the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu visited by Shiva devotees from all over the world.

Nepal's Pashupatinath Temple Trust has given its consent for building the temple in Sain village, Tirath Singh Rawat said.

Swami Chidananda Saraswati also spoke of his plans to set up an army school in the village.