Delhi's Kedarnath temple plans draw strong reaction from Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath

The upcoming Kedarnath temple in Delhi will be a temple and not a Dham, clarified Surinder Rautela, president of the Kedarnath Dham Trust, on Sunday. Rautela emphasised that the Uttarakhand government is not involved in the construction of this temple.

In an exclusive statement to ANI, Rautela explained, "The Kedarnath temple being built in Delhi is a project undertaken by the Shri Kedarnath Dham Trust, Delhi. It is independent of the Uttarakhand government. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the Bhoomi Pujan at our invitation, but the project is supported by trustees, many of whom are from Uttarakhand."


Rautela noted that similar temples named after famous Dhams have been established in various cities, such as the Kedarnath Temple in Indore and the Badrinath Temple in Mumbai, both of which were inaugurated by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

Addressing the controversy, Rautela stated, "The issue over naming the Delhi temple as Shri Kedarnath Dham is a political manoeuvre. Some leaders are creating this controversy for their political gains. The Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, and we are simply building a temple in Delhi, similar to many such temples across India."

Reacting strongly to the construction of the Kedarnath Temple in Delhi, Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, Swami Avimukteshwaranand stated,"There cannot be a symbolic Kedarnath. 12 Jyotirlingas have been mentioned in the Shiv Puran with name and location. When the address for Kedarnath is in the Himalayas, how can it be in Delhi? There are political reasons behind this. Political people are entering our religious places."


He further alleged, "There is a gold scam in Kedarnath. Why is that issue not being raised? After a scam there, now they want to build Kedarnath in Delhi, leading to another scam. 228 kilograms of gold are missing from Kedarnath, and no inquiry has started. Who is responsible for this? Now they say they will build a Kedarnath in Delhi—this cannot happen."

Inputs from ANI