Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee Bars Non-Hindus From 45 Temples

New Delhi: The Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) on Sunday (January 25) said that non-Hindus will not be allowed to enter 45 temples managed by the committee.

Announcing the decision, BKTC chairman and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Hemant Dwivedi said that “preserving the religious and cultural traditions of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand was of paramount importance.” He added that a resolution formalising the move would be adopted at the committee’s forthcoming board meeting.

Dwivedi said that the entry of non-Hindus had traditionally been barred in these temples, but claimed that these “long-standing traditions were violated during the tenure of non-BJP governments.”

“To ensure the sanctity of these shrines and proper observance of age-old traditions, concrete steps will now be taken by the temple committee,” he said in a statement.

The BKTC chairman also praised the state government’s campaign against illegally constructed shrines, describing it as an important measure to strengthen Uttarakhand’s religious identity, cultural heritage and law and order. He said steps would be taken to protect the sanctity of temples and their traditional practices.

Opposition parties criticised the announcement, calling it a “diversionary tactics of the BJP government.”

Congress state vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said, “There is no need for any such formal prohibition as non-Hindus don’t enter these temples. They (BJP) just want to divert the public attention from pressing issues of the state.”

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