Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 19 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday flagged off the 'Somnath Swabhiman Yatra' from Lucknow. A special train, carrying a large contingent of devotees, departed for the darshan of Lord Somnath Dham in Gujarat as part of the 'Somnath Swabhiman Parv' programme.

'Our eternal Sanatan faith is imperishable, immortal, and indestructible. Today, the entire nation is entering a new era of modern development while preserving its glorious heritage, under the guidance and leadership of our accomplished Prime Minister @narendramodi ji. Under the 'Som Nath Swabhiman Parv', the 'Som Nath Swabhiman Yatra Uttar Pradesh' was inaugurated today in Lucknow. On this occasion, a special train carrying devotees departing for darshan of Lord Somnath Dham was flagged off with a green signal. Heartfelt congratulations to all devotees and infinite best wishes for a pleasant and auspicious journey. Jai Somnath,' CM Yogi posted on X.

During the inauguration, Chief Minister Adityanath declared that India has entered a new era of modern development. He asserted that although there were repeated attacks on the eternal culture of India over time, these assaults could neither shake nor remove the country's shrines and did not succeed in suppressing the identity of the people.

'It is our good fortune that today, under the guidance and leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our country has entered a new era of modern development while preserving its glorious heritage. Today's age is a symbol of the fact that, according to the belief of Indian scriptures, just as the soul is immortal and is a symbol of the eternality of life, similarly, the Sanatan shrine is also a symbol of the same eternal and immortal path. We all have seen that there have been attack after attack on the eternal culture of India, but these attacks could neither shake nor remove the shrine of India, nor could they suppress it,' said CM Yogi.

Earlier, CM Yogi, along with Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, offered prayers at Gorakhnath temple on Wednesday.

Additionally, CM Yogi also inaugurated Uttar Pradesh's first Centre of Excellence at Maharana Pratap Institute of Technology, Gorakhpur.

In a post on X, CM Yogi said that the Centre of Excellence will play a crucial role in providing technical upskilling to the youth in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

'Today, I participated alongside N Chandrasekharan ji, Chairman of Tata Sons, in the inauguration ceremony of Uttar Pradesh's first Centre of Excellence at Maharana Pratap Institute of Technology, Gorakhpur. On this occasion, the Centre of Excellence's vision document and the Inclusive AI for Uttar Pradesh document were unveiled, along with the exchange of important MoUs between various institutions. Within a week, Maharana Pratap Institute of Technology and TCS Foundation were honoured with a Guinness World Record for the highest number of online registrations in the Artificial Intelligence Campaign,' said CM Yogi.

'Established with the success of the Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi ji's Atmanirbhar Bharat-Viksit Bharat vision, in collaboration with the Tata Group, this Centre of Excellence will also prove instrumental in advancing the technical upskilling, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship of the youth in eastern Uttar Pradesh,' added CM Yogi. (ANI)