'It is not Taj Mahal': Priests oppose proposal to declare Kedarnath temple as national heritage

The officials of Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Samaj said the Uttarakhand government has sent a proposal to the Archaeological Department of India to declare the eleventh Jyotirlinga Kedarnath Dham as a national heritage. They alleged that the government's intention was "to grab the land and buildings here and to end the centuries-old tradition"

Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand): Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Samaj, a body of seers, has lodged a strong objection to the proposal sent by the government to the Archaeological Department of India to declare the Kedarnath temple as a national heritage.

The Kedarnath temple, priests say, is not like the Taj Mahal which was built by a particular person, and declaring it as national heritage "amounts to tampering with its mythological heritage, which will be strongly opposed". "Just as the pilgrim priests launched a movement to dissolve the Devasthanam Board in the four dhams, similarly there will be a movement in the dhams to repeal this proposal. If even after this, the government does not withdraw the proposal, then the Chardham will be closed," the officials of the Purohit Samaj said.

In a memorandum sent to Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, the officials of Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Samaj said the Uttarakhand government has sent a proposal to the Archaeological Department of India to declare the eleventh Jyotirlinga Kedarnath Dham as a national heritage. "In this regard, the government has not taken any opinion from the local rights holders," the officials of the seers' body said.

They alleged that the government's intention behind declaring Kedarnath Dham as a national heritage was "to grab the land and buildings here and to end the centuries-old tradition". "It is also the aim of the government that the people employed in the temple through worship and other works should be made unemployed. The work which the Uttarakhand government could not do by implementing Devasthanam Board, that work is being done by adopting such tactics," they said.

The priests said that a meeting of Chardham Teerth Purohit Haq-Hakukdhari Mahapanchayat Committee would be held soon in this regard and after discussion, there will be a "fierce agitation" against the government. Kedar Sabha President Vinod Shukla said the government's plan will not be allowed to be fulfilled under any circumstances.

Senior Teerth Purohit Santosh Shukla said that the government does not even want to talk to the people who have been worshipping here for centuries. "The government is trying to usurp the monasteries and temples of its own accord. The pilgrim priests are ready to do anything in protest against this move of the government," he said. Another priest said that Kedarnath Dham was not like the Taj Mahal. "This temple has not been built by any particular person. It is a religious place associated with the feelings of local pilgrimage priests and rights holders and is the centre of faith for crores of Hindus. This is not a tourist place.