LUCKNOW: The alleged embezzlement of donation money at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has revived memories of another high-profile temple theft — at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple — that changed the shrine's management forever. A look back at the temple's history shows that a theft at the revered shrine four decades ago had led the then Uttar Pradesh government to take over its management.
In January 1983, a 2.6-kg gold ornament adorning the Shivling was stolen from the sanctum sanctorum of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, exposing serious lapses in the shrine's management.
The incident prompted the then Uttar Pradesh government to promulgate the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, transferring control from the mahants (priests) to a government-constituted temple trust.
Now, the alleged theft of donation money at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has revived the debate over safeguards needed to protect one of Hinduism's most significant shrines.
While, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has long advocated freeing temples from government control, incidents such as those at Ayodhya and Kashi have raised fresh questions over whether such a move is prudent.
The theft that changed everything
On January 5, 1983, the theft of about 2.55 kg of gold from the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva, along with between 6 kg and 9 kg of silver ornaments and other valuables, came to light at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
The theft sparked widespread protests, raising questions over the security and administration of one of the country's most revered temples.
An FIR was lodged at Chauk police station by the then priest, Sardaru. Within weeks, police recovered the stolen ornaments and arrested 11 accused, including Markandey Singh of Chakia in Chandauli district.
A local court in Varanasi, after 17 years of litigation, convicted all those found guilty of the theft on September 7, 2000, and ordered that the recovered ornaments be returned to the temple administration.
According to newspaper reports published at the time, investigators believed the theft had been carried out by thieves with the assistance of an insider. With no signs of forced entry into the sanctum sanctorum, the grill doors were found ajar, while the two priests on duty claimed they had slept through the incident.
The reports quoted senior police officers as describing the crime as an "inside job" and said investigators were examining possible links between the accused and members of the temple establishment.
The theft exposed major lapses in the maintenance of the temple's financial records. There was no comprehensive inventory of assets or register of temple staff. There was also little documentation of income or expenditure. Prolonged litigation among priests over control of the temple further complicated matters.
One of those cases had even reached the Supreme Court.
In the mid-1950s, a court ordered that the daily collections be divided equally among rival mahants until ownership and management issues were finally settled. The rivalry among the mahants and administrative lapses prompted government scrutiny under the Uttar Pradesh Public Religious Institutions (Prevention of Dissipation of Properties) Act, 1976.
Within weeks of the 1983 theft, the Congress government in Uttar Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Sripati Mishra, promulgated an ordinance that was later enacted as the Uttar Pradesh Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983.
The legislation transferred the temple's administration from the hereditary mahants to a newly constituted trust, stating that its objective was to provide better administration of the temple and its endowments.
Today, the temple is managed by the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust through a government-appointed CEO and a board of trustees.
However, Rajendra Tiwari, a former priest of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, fought a legal battle with the Uttar Pradesh government over the ownership and management of the shrine.
According to his claims, his family had managed the temple's affairs for more than four centuries before being divested of that responsibility on January 28, 1983, under the Uttar Pradesh Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act.
The lapses at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple highlighted how mismanagement at religious shrines can reshape their governance. The circumstances in Ayodhya are different, as the alleged Ram Temple donation theft remains under investigation.
However, the process of appointing a CEO for better management of the temple's affairs is already underway.