INDIA, December 10, 2019 (India Legal): There’s nothing like religion to inflame passions. That is precisely what the ruling BJP government is facing in Uttarakhand after its latest edict. The hill state boasts of over 50 temples, including the Char Dham–the four revered shrines at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. They will now be brought under the state government’s control and managed by a Char Dham Shrine Board. Once implemented, the legislation will change an 80-year-old practice and the BJP government has stirred a hornets’ nest. Not only does the proposed Bill aim to acquire control of these shrines and temples, it has also changed the definition of Char Dham as laid down by Adi Shankaracharya, the eighth century theologian credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.
Not surprisingly, the move has met with anger and resistance from religious heads. Babulkar Dinkar, a rightful holder of the Badrinath temple and a three-time member of the Kedarnath-Badrinath Committee, told India Legal that the BJP government was committing sacrilege. He said: “We all know that the Char Dham–Badrinath, Jagannath Puri, Rameswaram and Dwarka–were established by Adi Shankaracharya. Kedarnath is the 11th jyotirlinga while Yamunotri and Gangotri were sources of the two rivers. Just because vested interests and tour operators started calling the Uttarakhand shrines as Char Dham, can the original dhams be replaced? How can the government bring the other shrines on a par with Badrinath? Can they tamper with what Shankaracharya had created?”
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