The cave where Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditated in 2019 at Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district has become a major attraction for tourists. The “overwhelming response” among tourists to the Rudra cave prompted the BJPled Uttarakhand government to create more such caves for devotees. The construction work of three new caves have been completed now and they would become functional within a week. Kedarnath will thus offer now four meditation caves for visitors to spend some time in isolation and peace and practice yoga or meditation.

Located about 1 km upwards to the left-side mountain of the Kedarnath temple, the Rudra cave, popularly called “Modi gufa”, is situated at a remote location. The cave comes with an attached toilet, solar electricity, drinking water and SIP phone.

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The compact Rudra cave came into limelight on 18 May 2019 when PM Modi stayed there. Three new caves are also located near the Rudra cave and offer similar facilities. The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, a tourism unit of the Uttarakhand government, which manages the tourist lodges and canteen at Kedarnath, will take control of the new caves this month. The Kedarnath shrine will close for a sixmonth winter break on 16 November and the tourists are unlikely to use the new caves for dwelling this year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam has not allowed the stay of any tourist at the Rudra cave this season.

State PWD secretary R K Sudhanshu said, “The airlifting of heavy machinery to Kedarnath got completed recently. The machineries will get assembled by November 17. “The construction work of three new caves is also complete and we have constructed fifty prefabricated shops near the helipad,” Uttarakhand chief secretary Om Prakash has ordered the PWD department to hand over the three new caves to the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam by 11 November. After PM Modi’s stay at the Rudra cave, it received a remarkable visitors’ response last year. The Chinook helicopter of the Indian Air Force was recently deployed at Kedarnath for ferrying heavy machinery