Badri-Kedar Temple Committee seeking legal advice over construction of replica of Kedarnath temple in Samajwadi Party’s bastion Etawah

Opposing the construction of the replica of Kedarnath temple in Samajwadi Party’s (SP) bastion, Etawah, the authorities of Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) said on Saturday (July 19, 2025) that they are seeking legal advice in the matter. The priest community in Uttarakhand is also up in arms against the temple project, launched by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The construction of over 70 feet tall Kedareshwar Mahadev Temple, which looks exactly like Kedarnath temple, started in 2021. Being built at the approximate cost of ₹50 crore in front of Safari Park in Etawah, the home turf of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and is likely to be completed in the next six months. Akhilesh Yadav had recently shared a video of the temple on social stirring controversy over the same.

Condemning the move of building the replica of a temple of ‘religious and mythological importance’, BKTC President Hemant Dwivedi said that Kedarnath temple is one of the 11 Jyotirlinga and it should not be copied in any way.

“It is mentioned in the Vedas and Puranas that Kedarnath Dham is located in the Himalayan region, hence the replica temple of this important religious place should not be built elsewhere, it is against religious beliefs,” he said.

Mr. Dwivedi added that appropriate steps will be taken after legal opinion in the matter. he added that BKTC has also brought in the notice of the state government.

Suresh Semwal, president of Char Dham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchyat, the body of priests associated with char dham temples, said that construction of the replica of Kedarnath temple in Etawah is not only tampering with religious sentiments of people but also an attack on the identity and tradition of the Hindu temples.

“It is an insult to faith of millions of Hindus. If Uttarakhand government will not take appropriate measure to stop the construction of the temple in Etawah, the priest community will be forced to move to court,” he added.

After a Statewide agitation by the priest community last year, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) lead Uttarakhand government had pushed for a halt on the proposed construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi’s Burari. The project in Burari was inaugurated by the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who faced a lot of heat over the same.

After both political pressure from the Opposition Congress and from the Char Dham temple priests, the State government had proposed in the Cabinet to make take legal action on the misuse of the name of Char Dham temples.