Varanasi, Jan 22 (IANS): A temple built in the name of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be inaugurated here on Thursday which also happens to be the 123rd birth anniversary of the iconic freedom fighter.

The temple, which is located in Subhash Bhawan on Azad Hind Marg, will be inaugurated by senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar.

According to sources, the temple will have a Dalit woman as the chief priest and the morning 'aarti' will be held with a prayer to Bharat Mata.

The temple is located in the front yard of the Subhas Bhawan and has a life-size black granite statue of Subhas Chandra Bose. The stairs around the temple are painted in red and white.

"The red colour symbolizes revolution while white is for peace and black is for strength," said Dr Rajiv of Banaras Hindu University who is responsible for the temple being constructed.

He said that the purpose of the temple was to inculcate a feeling of patriotism among people and keep the memory of Netaji alive.

The significance of the Subhas temple in Varanasi lies in the fact that the holy city has a large Bengali population. The maximum numbers of widows, who come to Varanasi to spend the last days of their lives, are from Bengal.

The holy city is often referred to as mini-Bengal.