Akhilesh pushes temple project in Yadav citadel before state poll battle

Akhilesh Yadav pushes for Kedareshwar Mahadev temple in Etawah, aiming to counter BJP's Hindutva narrative ahead of 2027 elections.

On the outskirts of Etawah town in central Uttar Pradesh is the Lion Safari Park, once a big draw for tourists in India’s most-populous province but now closed due to a recent avian flu scare.

The temple is being built by the Kedareshwar Mahadev Etawah Temple Trust, whose chief trustee is Akhilesh Yadav. Deepak Gupta/HT (HT)

But coming up roughly8km away, off the Etawah-Bhind bypass road, is another potential landmark for the city often considered a stronghold of the Yadav family.

Here, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav — accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party of being anti-Hindu for skipping the Ram temple inauguration in January 2024 — is quietly pushing a major religious project – the Kedareshwar Mahadev temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The temple is being built on a 12-acre plot by the Kedareshwar Mahadev Etawah Temple Trust, whose chief trustee is former chief minister Yadav. The pran-pratistha or consecration ceremony was done in February 2024 and a small pool of devotees is already trickling in. But the grand inauguration is scheduled for February 2026, roughly a year before assembly polls in the state, said Madhu Botta, head of RIPL Constructions, the firm building the temple. Construction of the project started with a Bhoomi Pujan on March 7, 2021 with Yadav in attendance. Last year, he shared a video on X of ongoing construction at the temple. The main temple complex is completed but work related to the water tank, outer parikrama corridor, administrative block and boundary wall is still pending.

Addressing the media at an event at the party office in Lucknow, Akhilesh said: “I will visit the Ram Temple, after our Kedareshwar Temple is completed in Etawah.”

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Botta said only granite “Krishna Purush Shila” was being used in areas other than the foundational structure. A blend of northern and southern Indian traditions will be seen, he said.

“Initially, Akhileshji asked me to get a Nandiji statue constructed ,after which he asked me to study all the major temples and make a unique Lord Shiva temple in Etawah. We extensively researched major temples and brought together the best resources in this field for the Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple in Etawah,” Botta said.

“This temple is being built to last more than 2000 years,” he added.

An estimated 600 tonnes of granite has already reached Etawah from Kanyakumari. In all, 1,000 tonnes of granite will be used, Botta said.

“Three Nandi statues have already been installed on three sides of the temple. The first Nandi will be 13-foot-high. The second Nandi’s height is seven feet. A three-foot Nandi will be the third, installed inside the sanctum sanctorum. The entire complex will have 198 pillars with different carvings,” said Botta.

A 25 men-strong team of artisans are working in Etawah. There are two other teams with 150 workers and craftsmen in Kanyakumari. The stones for this temple are being carved in Tamil Nadu and sent to Etawah for the final touches.

The Kedareshwar Mahadev temple will have four gates, resembling the gopurams of southern India. The main entrance will be 50-foot-high and the others 40-foot-high, saidBotta.

Dr J Rajendran, the chief architect, said the temple will see a mix of Nagara, Pallava, Chola and Nagara styles.

“The temple is being built on the same Shiv-Shakti axis line on which the Kedarnath Temple and other important religious sites in India lie. Eight major temples of Lord Shiva built in the country are also located on this line,” Rajendran said.

“A five-foot-high bronze bell is being brought from Sri Lanka, designed to resonate with the sound of ‘Om’ when rung,” he added.

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Bala Krishna, the assistant architect said the sanctum sanctorum will be 74 feet tall atop a 10-foot-high platform. “This brings its total elevation to 84 feet from the ground—just an inch shorter than the 85 feet height of the Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand. As a mark of respect for the Kedarnath temple, the height of the Kedareshwar Mahadev temple has been intentionally kept slightly lower,” he said.

“Like the Kedarnath temple, a 12-foot high wooden ‘shikharam’ has been built on the top of the Kedareshwar temple. Along with keeping a hollow space between the roof of the sanctum sanctorum of this temple and the ‘vimanam’, a small hole has been placed on the roof in such a way that the echo of the conch, bell and damru played in the sanctum sanctorum can be heard in the entire complex. Electricity will not be used for lighting in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The sanctum sanctorum will be illuminated by the light of diyas (earthen lamps),” Bala Krishna added.

Workers, many of whom are from Tamil Nadu, say they started working from 2021.“Summer is not a problem for us, but the extreme winter in North India was unbearable. However, with Lord Shiva’s blessings, we persevered and continued our work,” said Selvam Karthik, an artisan.

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Leaders from the Samajwadi Party say in public that the temple is not linked to politics but admit privately that it will help blunt any criticism of Yadav and his party on Hindutva or temple politics.

Out of power in the state since 2017, the SP is hoping that the temple will help it repel allegations that the SP was steeped in caste politics and against Hindutva, and also give a religious edge to its social alliance of Pichda (backward), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minorities) that boosted its tally in the Lok Sabha polls.

“Constructing a temple is a personal and religious choice…Akhilesh ji has chosen to create something meaningful. Not everyone can travel to Kedarnath, but now they can visit the Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple,” said senior leader Udaiveer Singh.

He said seeking votes in the name of the temple was not on the party’s agenda, and pointed to statues of Lord Hanuman built in Saifai by the late Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2016.

But the BJP leaders said Yadav’s involvement in the temple as a sign of the expanding influence of Sanatana Dharma.

“Rahul Gandhi is going to Ujjain temple and Akhilesh Yadav is getting a Shiv temple constructed in his native place. What more proof do we need of the increasing influence of Sanatana?” asked UP BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

On this temple’s impact on the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Pathak said, “Voters are intelligent. They know who is doing what and the motive behind it.”

Political observers said the construction of the temple might be a part of Akhilesh’s strategy to counter the BJP ahead of the crucial state elections. “The temple may be seen as messaging from the Akhilesh to his followers that even OBCs, Dalits can have a temple of their own where they won’t be insulted in any way. It will also blunt the attack of BJP who has been tagging Akhilesh as ‘anti-Hinudtva’,” said Prashant Trivedi, associate professor at Giri Institute of Development Studies