Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, Swami Avimukteshwaranand speaks to the media on Kedarnath Temple to be built in Delhi, in Mumbai on July 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand is caught in the eye of a political storm as the priest community in the State, which is also known as โDevbhoomiโ (land of the gods), is up in arms against the construction of a temple in Delhi symbolically in the name of Kedarnath shrine, the foundation stone of which was laid by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami last week.
At a time when the State is gearing up for another Assembly bypoll in Kedarnath, following the demise of MLA Shaila Rani, the ire of the priests, who are at the heart of the Stateโs religious tourism economy, may prove costly for the BJP. The party lost the Badrinath seat in the recently held Assembly bypoll. The State is famous for the Chardham temples โ Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
Brijesh Sati, general secretary ofย the Uttarakhand Char Dham Teerth Purohit Maha Panchayat, told The Hindu that the priest community is angry that the name of Kedarnath, one of the 12 sacred Jyotirlings (from where Lord Shiva emerged), is being misused for monetary gains.
โWe donโt have a problem in making Shiva temples. But they cannot replicate Kedarnath. If this is allowed, it will create confusion among devotees,โ Mr. Sati said, adding that priests across the four shrines in the State were protesting, and they would take their agitation to the State capital if the temple project in Delhi was not shelved.
Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, Shankaracharya (religious head of monasteries) of the Jyotir Math, situated in the Joshimath area of Uttarakhand, has also opposed the move. โIt is in the Vedas that Kedarnath sits in the Himalayas. I just want to tell those who want to take Kedarnath to the plains that their act is criminal,โ he said.
The religious leader had earlier condemned the consecration of the an unfinished Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
After the uproar from the priests, Mr. Dhami issued a statement on Monday. โJyotirling ka sthaan ek hee hai….. mandir anek sthaano par bane hai (a Jyotirlinga cannot be replicated…..temples can be built at other place),โ he said.
Ajayendra Ajay, president of the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee, said that legal advice was being sought on the issue. He also said that action would be taken against those who โmisusedโ the name or photo of the Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.
Surendra Rautela, president of the Kedarnath Dham Trust in Delhi, in a video statement had clarified that the Uttarakhand government had nothing to do with the construction of the Kedarnath temple in the national capital.
Even after the Uttarakhand Chief Ministerโs attempt to negate the controversy, BJP leaders in the State feel the damage is done. โWe were widely criticised for losing Ayodhya, the land of lord Ram, which remained a major focus of our poll campaign. Now we have lost the Badrinath shrine, another seat that represents Hindutva. Amid this controversy, we cannot afford to lose Kedarnath as this temple is one of the favourites of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is putting all efforts for its facelift after the 2013 floods tragedy,โ a senior BJP leader said.
