Varkala (Kerala), Feb 10 (IANS): Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons on Sunday laid the foundation stone for the Sree Narayana Guru spiritual pilgrimage circuit at a function held near here at the spiritual abode of the renowned social reformer.

This project covers all the places in Thiruvanathapuram district where the Guru spend most of his life, including his birthplace Chempazanthi, Aruvippuram where he set a temple to Lord Shiva and Varkala where he established the Sivagiri Mutt and his mausoleum is.

This project was sanctioned in January 2019 for Rs. 69.47 crores and the money would be used to improve the infrastructure and facilities at these centres.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had last week written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it would have been better had the implementation of this project been handed over to the Kerala Tourism Department, rather than asking the India Tourism Development Corporation to implement it.