Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh is committed to promoting religious tourism in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday after undertaking a five-kilometre long ‘parikrama’ of the Kamadgiri temple at Chitrakoot.

On the second day of his visit to Chitrakoot, Adityanath took many by surprise when he decided to walk the entire five kilometre stretch around the temple called ‘Panchkosi Parikrama’.

Later, amending his scheduled programme, he went to meet holy men from the Nirmohi Akhada on the banks of Mandakini.

Refusing to take a seat specially kept for him, Adityanath sat on the floor, like other holy men, and said that he being a saintly person did not require VIP treatment.

The holy men handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister, who said all their demands would be accepted by the government.

He said Mandakini was a holy river and efforts would be made to ensure it was kept pollution free.

He said the area would be a ‘no power cut zone’ and would get 24×7 electric supply.

The Chief Minister declared that the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border would be declared a free zone to make it easy for people to visit Chitrakoot.

—IANS