DEHRADUN: The Badri Kedar Temple Committee’s decision to add a gold coating to the walls of the sanctum sanctorum has been resulted as rifts between political parties and the temple’s priest community.
Congress has supported a portion of the priest community that is opposed to installing a gold coating on the walls in the sanctum sanctorum, but the temple committee and the community of priests as a whole are in favour of doing so.
Manoj Rawat, a former Kedarnath MLA, said, "Shiva is not a god who enjoys luxury. Shiva, in accordance with classical belief, favours ‘bhasma’ over ‘gold’. The temple committee intends to violate Sanatan Dharma."
"Therefore, the government and the temple committee should take a decision only after discussions with experts," added ex-MLA Rawat. Significantly, after the tragic flashfloods in Kedarghati in 2013, the Zoological Survey of India had clearly said that any tampering with the structure of Baba Kedarnath can prove to be dangerous for the future.
Two days ago, a fibre sheet caught fire in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, against which the Congress has launched a campaign. Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee chairman Ajendra Ajay has advocated the decision to offer gold, saying it is in line with the beliefs of Hindu mythology.
Chairman Ajay termed the news of tampering of the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath temple as part of the opposition’s propaganda. He said, “Religious beliefs, traditions and advice of archeological experts are being fully followed in the matter.”
“The temple committee has received approval from the state government to put gold sheets in the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple on the recommendation of a Shiva devotee from Maharashtra, he added.
The sanctum sanctorum will be measured, among other things, in order to prepare and install the gold plates; no extra work is necessary. He said that gold is currently used to beautify several significant Shivalayas, such as Somnath and Kashi Vishwanath, from the inner sanctum to the outer covering.