Kedarnath priests opposing construction of temple replica in Delhi put stir on hold after...

Kedarnath priests have put on hold their agitation against the proposed construction of a replica of Kedarnath Temple in Delhi after an assurance from Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Vinod Tiwari and Umesh Posti of the Kedar Sabha said the agitation is being put on hold at the directions of their president Rajkumar Tiwari who has met the chief minister.

"We are not withdrawing our agitation. We are just putting it on hold till our president returns from Dehradun after a meeting with the chief minister from whom he has got a positive assurance," Posti said. "The issue was discussed with the CM on Tuesday and a consensus was reached on changing the name of the temple and the trust building it in Burari (Delhi). The agitation is being postponed on the instructions of the president. The further strategy of the agitation will be decided only after the president returns to Kedarpuri," Tiwari said.

However, if the trust insists on not changing the name or the look of the temple in Burari, the priests might even go to court, he said. Head of the trust building the Kedarnath temple replica in Delhi -- Surinder Rautela -- convened a press conference in Dehradun on Tuesday to explain that the upcoming temple in the national capital was not Kedarnath Dham.

"It is just a temple bearing the name of Kedarnath. I am myself from Uttarakhand. I did it to only promote the culture of Uttarakhand," Rautela said. The priests are not satisfied with his explanation as their main grouse is that the temple as well as the trust behind its construction are named after Kedarnath for a commercial purpose which is not acceptable.

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Kedarnath Dham Trust has also released a QR code and getting donations for its constructions from Shiva devotees, a priest from Kedarnath Santosh Trivedi alleged. Reacting to the controversy, Dhami said Kedarnath Dham can only be between the banks of Mandakini and Saraswati rivers in Uttarakhand which is revered by Hindus from all over the world. "Kedarnath Dham will remain where it has been. Temples have been built in the past also and will continue to be built," he said.

When told that Congress has taken an aggressive stand on it, Dhami said, "Congress has run out of issues. That is why it keeps blowing non-issues out of proportion." At a press conference in Dehradun on Tuesday PCC president Karan Mahara and his predecessor Ganesh Godiyal said they will do everything they can to stop the construction of the Kedarnath temple replica in Delhi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)