An eight-member committee has been constituted to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure about the cost of land and proposed development plan of Sri Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan, aimed smooth ‘darshan’ experience for the devotees.
The committee has been constituted in light of the order passed by Allahabad high court on December 20, 2022, while hearing a PIL submitted before it.
The committee was created on December 25 by district magistrate, Mathura, Navneet Chahal and is headed by Anunay Jha, the municipal commissioner for Mathura Vrindavan Municipal Corporation.
“The committee is supposed to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure about the cost of land required and propose a development plan to be carried out in this area of 5 acre of land around Bankey Behari Temple” informed Anunay Jha, heading the committee.
“We have begun our work and held a meeting on Monday and will now visit the area to conduct a survey. We will undertake a survey of the entire area for estimation of land cost and propose a development plan aimed at providing an easy darshan experience to devotees,” added Jha.
The committee is required to submit its report within a week to the district magistrate Mathura before being forwarded to state government which will submit the estimation of land cost and proposed development plan before the Allahabad high court on date fixed i.e. January 17.
{{/usCountry}}The committee is required to submit its report within a week to the district magistrate Mathura before being forwarded to state government which will submit the estimation of land cost and proposed development plan before the Allahabad high court on date fixed i.e. January 17.
{{/usCountry}}A division bench of chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice JJ Munir is hearing the PIL filed by Anant Sharma and another who had raised the issue through petition filed in public interest seeking direction to the state of Uttar Pradesh to frame a proper scheme for maintenance and upkeep of Sri Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan town. The focus was to be mainly on crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees gather at temple.
Lakhs of devotees throng the temple at the year-end and the huge inflow of devotees continues in this first week of the New Year.
In December 2022, the temple administration had urged the elderly and disabled pilgrims to avoid visiting during the New Year rush. The temple administration had also appealed to people not to bring young children between December 25 and January 5, when the footfall rises significantly.
Of late, the temple has become a much sought-after destination for the past few decades. However, with narrow approach lanes through the market for the temple and small enclosure for ‘sanctum sanctorum’, even a slight increase in the number of devotees poses safety threats.
In August 2022, two devotees got suffocated to death on the night of Janmashtami at Sri Bankey Behari Temple. After the tragedy, a probe committee -- headed by retired DGP Sulkhan Singh and having then commissioner Gaurav Dayal as member -- was constituted. It suggested certain measures but not much has changed and the fainting of devotees at the temple because of crowd pressure especially on weekends is common here.
Meanwhile, the state government began mulling a corridor in Vrindavan on the lines of Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi to ease the long-pending problem of crowd management.