An unpleasant dispute has been sparked by the plan to build a duplicate of Uttarakhand’s famed Kedarnath Mandir in the city. The priests of the mountainside shrine were incensed at the idea when Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami laid the foundation stone for the temple that the Shri Kedarnath Dham Delhi Trust is planning to construct last Wednesday.
On a 3-acre area in Burari, on the outskirts of Delhi, the temple is planned to be constructed. The administrative head of the Shri Kedarnath Dham Delhi Trust, Jitender Sulara, stated on Tuesday that the shrine’s construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026.
The trust owns the plot and will pay the about Rs 12 crore building cost, according to Sulara, who is also the trust’s founder-president.
CM Dhami and Rautela were among the attendees of the bhumi puja on July 10. Sulara did not take long to clarify that the chief minister of Uttarakhand was an honored guest at the function and had no affiliation with the Delhi trust.
Although the temple is modeled after the ancient Kedarnath, Sulara emphasized that the Delhi structure could not be made exactly like it. “The stones that were used in the original temple are not available to us. He added, “We also don’t have the Jyotirlinga. “All we want is to construct a temple for followers of Shiva.”
The highest authority managing the twin shrines and other significant temples in Uttarakhand, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), has threatened legal action against the Shri Kedarnath Dham Delhi Trust should it proceed with its plans to erect any building that bears any resemblance to the Kedarnath Mandir in Burari. Kedarnath is one of the four holy Hindu sanctuaries that make up the Char Dham, along with Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Gangotri.
Ajendra Ajay, the chairwoman of the BKTC, warned on Tuesday that anyone or any organization utilizing the names of the temples at Kedarnath or Badrinath for profit would be prosecuted.
The opposition Congress in the state accused the chief minister and the ruling BJP of damaging the sanctity of the old shrine, even though he acknowledged that the Uttarakhand government was “not involved” with the Delhi temple and that Dhami had attended the foundation-laying event at the invitation of the organizers.
“We have received complaints about individuals and organizations creating trusts in the name of the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath and raising funds to build temples, hospitals, ashrams, etc.,” Ajay stated. Under the guise of setting up online prayers at the two sites, some people are even using applications to gather money. We intend to pursue all available legal recourse.
Jyotirmath’s shankaracharya, Swami Avimukteshwaranand, also expressed his vehement opposition to the planned temple in the capital. “There cannot be a symbolic Kedarnath,” he declared. Twelve Jyotirlingas with precise names and places are mentioned in the Shiv Puran.
How can Kedarnath, whose address is in the Himalayas, be in Delhi? He said that political motivations were behind the construction of the Delhi temple. Politicians are invading our sacred domain, asserted the Shankaracharya.
To these, Sulara retorted, “There are several Vaishno Devi temples across India. There is a Badrinath temple in Mumbai. There is even a Kedarnath temple in Indore. Why cannot we build one here?” He continued, “It is not against Sanatan Dharma to build a temple. But it cannot be compared with the original in Kedarnath because we don’t have a Jyotirlinga. This is just another Shiva temple.”
Rautela too argued, “This is nothing new and we fail to understand the controversy.” However, he is also believed to be contemplating the removal of the word ‘Dham’ from the trust name to avoid confusion and any misconception.
“This is nothing new and we fail to understand the controversy,” Rautela countered. To prevent misunderstandings and confusion, he may also be considering removing the word “Dham” from the trust name.
