DEHRADUN: A 32-year-old priest is staging a unique protest for the last 10-days just outside Kedarnath temple at an elevation of ever 11,300 feet against the constitution of Devesthanam board by Uttarakhand state government.
Santosh Trivedi, the priest who sits three times a day just in front of of the revered shrine in just one cloth which is a 'Dhoti' draped around his lower body at freezing temperatures of 3-5 degrees has not seized to sit on protest even if it rains.
"My protest is against the formation of the Devsthanam Board. This move is to deprive us priests from our traditional rights. I will continue my protests," says Trivedi.
Trivedi sits on protest for the duration of 45 minutes to 90 minutes thrice a day. The first sit-in starts as early as 5: 30 am during the morning aarti when temperature is almost freezing at 3 or 4 degree celsius.
The second sit-in starts at around 12 pm in the noon, for 45 minutes, during 'Bhog Prasad' of the lord Kedarnath and lastly, he sits for around 1.30 hours during the evening aarti, around 6 pm.
Brijesh Sati, spokesperson of Devbhoomi Teerthpurohit Char Dham Mahapanchayat, a body representing the priests, commenting on the issue said, "We are planning to hold such protest in all 4 temples of Char Dham which includes Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath. We will sit in similar kind of protest soon if the government fails to address our concerns."
Meanwhile, thousands of priests associated with Char Dham and 47 other temples (Total 51) from across the hill state are already protesting against the state government since it has passed the Char Dham Shrine Board Bill, last year.
According to the priests, the arrangement by the state government on the lines of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Tirupati Balaji Shrine Board aims to deprive them of their traditional rights and take control of the shines.
Earlier, last year, the priests associations of Uttarakhand in a blood-written letter to Prime Minister of India has requested to intervene in a matter concerning new law about managment of Char Dhams.
In December 2019, in a big win for government, the bill related to management of Char Dham was passed after discussion in Uttarakhand state assembly.
After discussion of over two hours, and suggestions to 'improvise' the law, the name of the bill was changed from Char Dham Shrine Board Management Bill 2019 to Uttarakhand Char Dham Devshtanam Management Board 2019.