Press Information Bureau

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah performed the Bhoomi Pujan for the comprehensive development of Punaura Dham temple and complex, the birthplace of Mata Sita in Sitamarhi district of Bihar today. Shri Amit Shah also flagged off the Amrit Bharat train from Sitamarhi to Delhi through video conferencing. Many dignitaries including Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar were present on this occasion.

In his address, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that today, laying the foundation stone for the development of the Punaura Dham temple complex, the birthplace of Mata Janaki, is a very auspicious occasion not only for Sitamarhi, Mithila and Bihar but also for the entire country and the world. He said that Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar has done the work of developing the Punaura Dham temple and its entire complex at the birthplace of Sita Mata with crores of rupees. This is a matter of joy not only for the devotees of Mithila and Bihar but also for the entire country.

Shri Amit Shah added that the grand temple of Shaktiswarupa Jagatjanani Mata Janaki will be built in Punaura Dham in an area of more than 68 acres at a cost of approximately Rs 890 crore. He said that out of this, Rs 137 crore will be spent on the renovation of the existing temple of Mata Sita and Rs 728 crore will be spent on the ‘Parikrama Path’ and other structures. He said that the life lessons from the life of Mata Sita and the stories of Ramayana will be told in the Parikrama Path, Dhyan Kendra Vatika, reconstruction of religious water sources, Dharamshalas, canteens, medical facilities and digital gallery. He said that through the 3D experience, our young generations will be able to see all the inspiring incidents from the life of Mata Janaki along with Shri Ram Chandra Ji.  Shri Amit Shah said that this project will also include development work of Valmiki Nagar of Ramayana Circuit with Rs 52 crore, development of Pulhar in Madhubani with Rs 31 crore, Panth Pakar in Sitamarhi with Rs 24 crore, Ahilya spot with Rs 23 crore, Ram Reka Ghat with Rs 13 crore and Sita Kund in Munger Gaya with Rs 7 crore.

Union Home Minister said that today the Sitamarhi-Delhi Amrit Bharat train has also been started. He added that earlier Rs 1132 crore was spent every year for the development of railways in Bihar, but Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has spent Rs 10,066 crore for railways in Bihar only in 2025-26.

Shri Amit Shah said that the life story of Mata Sita will be dedicated to the women power of the country by reviving all the places from the first meeting of Mata Sita with Shri Ram to the birthplace of Luv-Kush, the last residing place of Mata Sita and Panth Pakar. He said that Mata Sita has a unique place in the culture of India. Mata Janaki had played the roles as an ideal wife, an ideal daughter, an ideal mother and an ideal Raj Mata (queen) in her life. Shri Amit Shah said that Mithila occupies centre place in our culture as evident from our scriptures like Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharata, in Buddhist scriptures and in Jain literature. Mithila has been a great abode of knowledge, of theology, astrology, music, literature, grammar, language and tantra knowledge. He said that this grand temple being built on the birthplace of Mata Janaki underscores prosperity and development of Mithila region and Bihar. He said that today, the process of making Mithila a centre of learning and culture is being started from there.

Union Home Minister said that during the Modi government Mithila has been respected in many ways. He said that former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji had included Maithili in the Eighth Schedule and Prime Minister Modi ji has taken the art of Mithila to the global stage. Shri Shah said that our culture has always been to respect the ‘Maatri Shakti’ (women power) and we have always worshipped ‘Maatri Shakti’ in this country. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji built a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, built the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and the Mahakal Corridor in Ujjain. Also, the temple of Shri Somnath is being built again of gold and Prime Minister Modi ji has renovated many religious places.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji is committed to the security of India. Earlier there used to be bomb blasts in the country and terrorists used to escape to Pakistan after carrying out the blasts. The Home Minister said that after Modi Ji's government came to power, we did surgical strike after Uri attack, air strike after Pulwama attack and after Pahalgam attack, through Operation Sindoor, we wiped out terrorists deep inside Pakistan. He said that the opposition was against Operation Sindoor in the Parliament but they should know that this is Shri Narendra Modi Ji's government which does not give anyone the right to breach the security of the country.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that before the Bihar elections, the news that is being published in all the newspapers is whether Special Intensive Revision (SIR) should be done or not. He asked the public shouldn’t the infiltrators be removed from the voter list, and should the Election Commission be stopped from conducting ‘SIR’. Shri Shah said that the opposition wants to save those who entered India from Bangladesh and have taken away jobs of our youth. He said that the opposition wants the votes of the infiltrators but the people of Bihar will not accept it. Shri Shah said that the opposition should stop vote-bank politics. He said that electoral roll revision is not happening for the first time, it happened during Jawaharlal Nehru and it was done in 2003 also, but there was never any protest. He hinted that the opposition appears to be pre-emptively explaining to the public the reasons for its anticipated loss in the upcoming Bihar elections, given its repeated electoral defeats.

Home Minister said that our Constitution does not give the right to vote to those who are not born in India. He said that infiltrators should not take part in the electoral process of this country and the opposition is opposing SIR because such infiltrators are their vote bank.

Shri Amit Shah said that the opposition has done nothing for the development of Mithila region except hooliganism providing protection to the mafia, kidnapping and ransom. He said that Prime Minister Modi Ji has given 83 thousand crore rupees for the development of Bihar in his last 6 visits. He said that Sitamarhi's National Highway 527 is being made completely of concrete and it is being made so strong that when it is ready after 2 years, even a plane will be able to land on it. Sitamarhi-Sursand-Jaynagar-Nirmali railway section is being built with Rs 2400 crore, Sitamarhi-Jaynagar-Naraiya road is being doubled with Rs 474 crore. Work is going on for the road from Bahargaon to Sitamarhi-Sursand worth Rs 201 crore and Khagaria-Purnia section is being constructed on National Highway 31 with Rs 1600 crore. Shri Shah said that double gauge conversion of Jaynagar, Darbhanga, Narkatiaganj and Bhikhana is being done with Rs 1193 crore. Samastipur-Darbhanga line is being doubled with Rs 624 crore and 10 railway stations of Bihar are being made Amrit Stations. He said that new line is being built from Sitamarhi to Shivhar at a cost of Rs 567 crore, Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi railway line is being built with Rs 71 crore, Muzaffarpur-Sugoli line is being doubled with Rs 1465 crore. The Home Minister also said that Modi ji has also done welfare of Makhana farmers by forming Makhana Board. He said that Riga sugar mill has been started in Sitamarhi, financial assistance for Western Kosi Nagar has been approved by the Government of India. Also, 8 new medical colleges have been built and today the biggest work has been accomplished in the form of foundation stone laying of Mata Janaki temple.

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RK / VV / RR/ HS