Ayodhya man builds temple dedicated to UP CM Yogi Adityanath with life-size idol

A temple dedicated to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has come up in the state's Ayodhya district. The temple, in Purwa village near Bharatkund, portrays Yogi Adityanath as an incarnation of Lord Ram. The statue of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is shown with a bow and arrow, just like Lord Ram. The morning and evening prayers are followed by two special prayers in the temple in front of the statue of the chief minister. Prasad is also given to worshipers after the prayers.

The Yogi-temple is located 25 kilometres away from the famous Ram Janmabhoomi temple site near Bharat Kund on the Prayagraj-Ayodhya highway in Bhadarsa village of Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya. 

Bharatkund is believed to be the place where Lord Ram's brother Bharat bade him farewell before the former went into exile.

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Prabhakar Maurya, who built the temple, said, "Yogi Adityanath has built the Ram temple for us and I have built this temple for him."  According to Maurya, he continues to recite hymns each day in front of Yogi Adityanath's idol, just as he does for Lord Ram. The temple's construction reportedly cost close to Rs 8.5 lakh. An idol for Yogi Adityanath was specially ordered from Rajasthan.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter and reacted to the news with a cryptic tweet. "He has moved two steps ahead of him...Now the question is, who is the first (ye to unse bhi do kadam aagey nikle...ab sawal ye hai ki pehle kaun)?" he wrote.

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Even before the Ram temple reaches completion, Ayodhya now has a temple that is turning out to be a major tourist attraction.

• Ayodhya
• Lord Ram
• Uttar Pradesh
• Yogi Adityanath
• Yogi Adityanath temple
• Ram Janmabhoomi temple