NEW DELHI, Sept 17: The priests of the famed Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand are divided over gold plating of the walls inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Himalayan temple.
While one section of the priests are opposing the move stating that it amounted to tampering with the temple’s centuries old traditions, another section maintained that the gold plating of the temple walls was perfectly in keeping with Hindu beliefs and traditions.
The Pilgrimage priests (teerth purohits) opposing the gold plating are incensed that the use of big drilling machines in the process are damaging the temple’s walls. The four walls of the famed temple were covered with silver plates which have been removed to replace them with gold plates.
The gold plating of the temple’s walls is being done after a Shiva devotee from Maharashtra volunteered to make an offering of gold for the purpose and his proposal was accepted by the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee with permission from the state government.
The gold plating is damaging the temple walls. Big drilling machines are being used for the purpose. We cannot tolerate this tampering with the centuries old traditions of the temple,” a spokesman for the group opposing the move said.
However, senior priest Shrinivas Posti and former president of Kedar Sabha Mahesh Bagwadi said the temple was a major centre of Sanatan faith and gold plating of its walls was in keeping with the Hindu beliefs and traditions.
Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee president Ajendra Ajay said opposition to the gold plating of the temple walls was not justified as it was being done in accordance with the traditions without tampering with the original structure.
“Renovation and beautification of the temple from time to time is a normal practice. A handful of priests may oppose it but their representative bodies never opposed it. Decades ago the temple ceiling used to be made of grass and twigs. As the times changed it began to be made of stones and later of copper sheets,” he said.
“Hindu temples all over the country are symbols of grandeur. Decorating Hindu deities with gold and jewellery has been part of our traditions. I see nothing wrong in covering the temple walls with gold plates,” Ajay said. He also said the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee had taken due permission from the state government before going ahead with the gold plating of the temple walls.
(Manas Dasgupta)
