Congress lashes out at CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over an advertisement claiming 'Bhimashankar Temple' is in Assam

A controversy erupted in Maharashtra after an advertisement of the Assam government claimed that 'Bhimashankar Temple' which is considered the sixth Jyotirlinga among the twelve Jyotirlingas, is in Assam.

On the occasion of Mahashivratri, this advertisement has been published by the Tourism Department of the Assam government in various newspapers on February 15.

The Assam government advertisement highlights that Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga in Pamohi is only 18 km by road from Guwahati's Airport and is located at the foothills of the Dakini Hills in the state of Assam.

The Assam Chief Minister has appealed to the devotees to come in large numbers to the program organized on the occasion of Mahashivratri through the advertisement.

''Welcome to Dakini Parbat, Kamrup, the sixth Jyotirlinga site in India’. In the same advertisement, a list of various Jyotirlinga places has also been given. In it, the place is mentioned as Bhimashankar in ‘Dakini’ after the name of Bhimashankar. Apart from this, the advertisement also has a photo of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma,'' read the advertisement.

As soon as the advertisement came into the public domain, the Maharashtra Congress strongly objected to this and accused the BJP government of doing politics over the temple which has been the center of the Hindu faith for centuries.

Party leader Sachin Sawant said that till now other state governments of BJP were stealing investors from Maharashtra, now efforts are being made to take up religious centers.

"The BJP government wants to grab important pilgrimage areas along with industry in Maharashtra. We are opposing this move of the BJP government in Assam. He demanded that the Shinde Fadnavis government in Maharashtra immediately clarify its position on the issue and condemn the deplorable act of Assam,'' Sawant tweeted.

Bhimashankar Temple in the Pune district of Maharashtra has been famous among the 12 Jyotirlingas of the country. This pilgrimage area has been in the hills amidst dense forest at the origin of the Bhima River.

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