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Today, the fame of Kainchi Dham Ashram located in Nainital, Uttarakhand has spread all over the world. Crores of devotees in the country and abroad have unwavering faith in the holy land where global personalities like the country’s Prime Minister, Apple founder Steve Jobs and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg have bowed their heads. Amidst the huge crowd of devotees thronging Kainchi Dham every day, now a very big and pleasant news is coming out from Uttar Pradesh for the devotees of Baba Neem Karoli Maharaj. After Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura-Vrindavan, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now started work on a huge plan to give a grand look to the historical and holy places associated with revered Neem Karoli Baba. Under this, the entire area from Baba’s birthplace to his Tapobhoomi and Samadhi site will be rejuvenated, so that this entire route can develop into an international level spiritual and cultural circuit.
Neem Karoli Baba was born in a prosperous Brahmin family in Akbarpur, a small and quiet village under Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh. A plan has now been prepared to develop this holy village, which was neglected for years, as a modern and well-equipped pilgrimage site. According to the new development plan, all the access roads connecting Akbarpur village to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the National Highway will be upgraded to four lanes, so that the devotees coming from Delhi, Lucknow or Agra do not face any inconvenience in the journey.
A grand and carved ‘Neem Karoli Baba Smriti Dwar’ is proposed to be constructed to enter the village. Along with this, a modern darshan gallery, huge satsang building, clean drinking water booth, air-conditioned waiting room and organized parking lot with a capacity of hundreds of vehicles will be constructed around the temple premises. Greenery, attractive lights and meditation centers for devotees will be built around the temple so that every devotee coming here can experience the same spiritual peace as Kainchi Dham.
Along with the birthplace of Firozabad, ‘Neeb Karauri’ village of Farrukhabad district is also an integral part of this mega project. This is the holy place where Baba did secret penance by living underground for years and after the name of this village, he was later named ‘Neem Karoli Baba’. The historical cave of this Tapobhoomi situated along the railway line and the ancient temple of Hanuman ji is being conserved and transformed into a spiritual heritage centre.
Under the plan, it is proposed to start operating electric buses and shuttle services to ease the commute from Farrukhabad and nearby railway stations like Kanpur, Etawah and Kasganj to Nib Karori. In coordination with the Railway Administration, preparations are underway to beautify the local railway station and develop a special halt and rest room for the convenience of the pilgrims, so that the elderly and far-flung devotees coming by train can visit Baba’s Taposthali without any hassle.
Neem Karoli Baba left his physical body on 11 September 1973 in Vrindavan, the holy city of Kanha. The Samadhi place and ashram of Neem Karoli Baba situated on the Parikrama Marg of Vrindavan is a center of immense faith for the devotees of the country and abroad. At present, almost every pilgrim coming to Vrindavan does not forget to pay obeisance at the Banke Bihari temple as well as the Samadhi site of Baba.
Under the Mathura-Vrindavan Redevelopment Master Plan being prepared by the Uttar Pradesh Government, the entire area around Baba’s Ashram located on Parikrama Marg will be widened and beautified. Plans have been made to construct special pathways for pilgrims walking around the Samadhi site, security check posts, state-of-the-art CCTV surveillance system and well-equipped guest houses for the devotees to stay. This will also provide relief from heavy traffic during parikrama and devotees will be able to visit the Samadhi with ease.
The main objective of this initiative of the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is to connect all the major sites associated with Baba Neem Karoli—Firozabad (Akbarpur), Farrukhabad (Neeb Karori), Lucknow (Hanuman Setu Temple) and Mathura (Vrindavan Samadhi Sthal) as an integrated ‘Baba Neem Karoli Spiritual Circuit’.
The development of this corridor will not only give a new dimension to religious and cultural tourism in Uttar Pradesh, but will also create thousands of new employment opportunities for local youth and businessmen related to hotels, homestays, handicrafts, transportation and catering at the local level. Just as the development of Kainchi Dham has changed the economic face of the remote hilly areas of Uttarakhand, similarly the construction of this grand corridor will see unprecedented development of infrastructure in these rural and semi-urban areas of Uttar Pradesh.