U.P. Government has its eye on Banke Bihari temple’s money, say Sevayat Goswami priests

In its affidavit to the Allahabad High Court, the Uttar Pradesh Government has attached a draft proposal to form a trust for the temple to ensure financial transparency and safety of devotees

The Uttar Pradesh Government has its eye on Banke Bihari’s money, allege Sevayat Goswami priests at the Banke Bihari temple in Mathura. They are fighting a case in the Allahabad High Court on the issue of crowd management at one of the most famous Krishna temples in north India.

The BJP government in U.P. has submitted an affidavit in the High Court that it’s planning to build a corridor similar to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor (in Varanasi) around the Banke Bihari temple, and for this, the State has proposed to form a trust for the temple in which the government will be the “major stakeholder”. The government also said that the land to build the proposed corridor would be purchased from the temple’s funds.

Currently, the Banke Bihari temple is owned and managed by the hereditary community of Sevayat Goswami priests, who are Saraswat Brahmins and descendants of Swami Haridas, who built the temple over 550 years ago.

On prominent festivals such as Krishna Janmashtami and Holi, the famous temple receives five to 10 lakh devotees in a day, while one or two lakh devotees visit regularly.

The State claims the temple has the maximum capacity of 150 visitors at a time, whereas thousands enter it, leading to fears of stampedes on several occasions. On Janmashtami (August 19) this year, a man died due of suffocation, after which a public interest litigation (PIL) related to crowd management was filed in the Allahabad High Court.

Sources in the State government said the temple’s funds currently stand at about ₹480 crore, apart from gold and other valuables. Over 500 Sevayat Goswami priests perform the sacred rituals for the deity.

“The government is not interested in managing the crowd or helping the pilgrims. A corridor can be built without forming a trust for the temple. If crowd management is a concern, they can easily place barricades at various entrances to the temple, and allow a second group of devotees to enter only when the first exits. This petition is just a conspiracy to take over the temple and the money of Lord Banke Bihari,” Gaurav Goswami, 18th generation descendent of Swami Haridas, said.