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Bankey Bihari Temple to have corridor on Kashi pattern: Minister
The sanctum sanctorum, currently having a capacity of 700 to 800 devotees, will be extended to accommodate at least 5,000 devotees at a time, says Chaudhary
AGRA The state government will build a dedicated corridor soon for the smooth movement of devotees from the Yamuna riverbank to the Bankey Bihari Temple in Mathura, minister for sugarcane development and sugar industry Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary said on Monday.
This corridor will be connected to the Yamuna just like Varanasi’s KV Corridor is connected to the Ganga. It can accommodate over 50,000 devotees at a time. After taking a dip in the holy Yamuna, devotees can directly reach the temple via the corridor, the minister told media.
The minister said keeping the existing ancient structure of the temple intact, the open space from where devotees pay their obeisance will also be extended.
“The sanctum sanctorum, currently having a capacity of 700 to 800 devotees will be expanded to accommodate at least 5,000 devotees at a time,” stated the minister who is MLA from Mant assembly seat of Mathura district. Those giving up their land for the corridor will be given adequate compensation, he added.
Chaudhary had visited the Bankey Behari temple on Sunday night, after the tragic incident on the premises where two devotees had died of suffocation amid the crowd during ‘Mangla Aarti’ on the night of Janmashtami.
He said the project will be a gift to Brajbhoomi from chief minister Yogi Adityanath who was distressed by the death of two pilgrims at the temple on Janmashtami.
“It was an unfortunate incident. The chief minister has already constituted a high powered committee headed by retired DGP Sulkhan Singh and Commissioner (Aligarh division) Gaurav Dayal as its member. All related aspects including that of such incident happening during the presence of district magistrate and SSP at the temple, will be looked into,” stated Chaudhary.
“During my previous tenure as a minister in the state cabinet, I had taken up the issue of bringing up the Bankey Behari Temple Corridor on the pattern of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor in Varanasi. We are committed to having better space for devotees at the Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan,” stated Chaudhary.
“There is a space crisis, and currently, only 700 to 800 devotees can be accommodated in the temple. But with the construction of the corridor, we aim to make arrangements for 5,000 devotees offering prayers at a time while retaining the temple’s ancient character and importance. The chief minister has agreed to it,” claimed the minister.
“During my visit to the temple on Sunday, I had an interaction with district officials, Goswami community members and committee members looking after the temple’s affairs. The high powered committee will look into the aspects of security neglected at the temple on Janmashtami. At present, the temple management committee has its guards deployed to streamline the movement of devotees,” said Chaudhary. Inputs from agency
