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Bankey Behari temple corridor: The stampede that led to the PIL
On August 19, 2022, two devotees got suffocated to death as crowd at sanctum sanctorum of the temple swelled
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A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed by one Anant Sharma and another of Mathura after a stampede at Sri Bankey Behari temple in Vrindavan claimed the lives of two devotees during Janmashtami celebrations there on August 19 last year.
In the petition, a prayer was made for proper crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees congregate there. Now, the Allahabad high court’s order has paved way for the much-awaited temple corridor in Vrindavan town of Mathura district.
On August 19, 2022, two devotees got suffocated to death as crowd at sanctum sanctorum of the temple swelled. It revived the debate on plight of devotees struggling to have a darshan of Sri Bankey Behari.
The high court has asked the government to proceed with development of Bankey Behari temple corridor while holding in its order that ‘safety of human life (devotees) is required to be treated of utmost importance and the Government is bound to make necessary arrangements”.
The court discussed contents of the PIL which stated that approach roads to the temple are very narrow, congested and incapable of accommodating large crowds and facilitate free movement. “The average number of devotees visiting the temple for darshan is between 40,000 and 50,000 per day and on weekends these numbers swell to 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh per day while on festivals, it reaches 5 lakh a day,” claimed the petitioners in the PIL.
After the tragedy at the temple, the then Mathura DM had on December 25, 2022, set up an eight-member committee headed by the municipal commissioner to prepare a detailed report with the estimated expenditure about the cost of land and proposed development plan of the temple in Vrindavan aimed at smooth ‘darshan’ experience for the devotees in the light of the order dated December 20, 2022 by Allahabad high court in the PIL filed by Anant Sharma and one other.
However, these developments for proposed project earlier faced strong opposition from local residents who said the corridor will displace them while priests and shopkeepers wrote letters to the chief minister in their blood, requesting him to shelve the project spread in 5-acre land around the temple. Protests ensued but they ended gradually.
After local protests, Mathura MP Hema Malini issued a statement saying the corridor will attract more international tourists which will generate employment in Mathura and Vrindavan.
Feeling left out, the Sevayat Goswami at the temple became party to the PIL petition with the permission of the court. They submitted that the rights of the Goswamis, who had been looking after the temple for centuries now, were being violated without giving them a fair chance of hearing.
“The temple is much sought after destination and devotees from National Capital Region make a beeline here to have ‘darshan’ of idol of Thakur Banke Behari Ji Maharaj which was brought to its present location by noted saint Swami Haridas from Nidhi Van, a place where the idol appeared for first time,” says Mohan Swaroop Bhatia, a veteran of Braj literature and Padma Shri awardee.
