Bill to form trust for Mathura’s Banke Bihari temple introduced in Uttar Pradesh Assembly

Three bills, including the Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill, 2025, were introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on the third day of the monsoon session on Wednesday (August 13, 2025).

The Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill provides for the formation of a board of government-appointed trustees, including 11 nominated and seven ex-officio members.

The nominated members will include three eminent persons related to Vaishnav traditions, sects or peeths, three eminent persons related to other traditions, sects and peeths of Sanatan Dharma, which may include seers, gurus, scholars, mahants, acharyas etc. Besides, three persons belonging to any branch or sect of Sanatan Dharma, who could be from any field, such as educationists, scholars, entrepreneurs, social workers etc. Two members will be nominated from the Sevayat Goswami tradition in the temple, who are descendants of Swami Shri Haridas Ji.

There is a provision in the bill for ex-officio members, including the Mathura district magistrate and senior superintendent of police, the city commissioner, the chief executive officer of the Uttar Pradesh Braj Tirtha Vikas Parishad, an officer from the charitable department of the state government, the chief executive officer of the Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust and any other member appointed by the government.

Highlighting the objectives and reasons of the proposed bill on behalf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan town of Mathura district is an ancient and world-famous shrine. Every year, a large number of devotees and tourists visit the temple, which is spread over around 870 square metres, including a scenic courtyard that covers about 365 square metres.

The House was informed that devotees and visitors face great inconvenience due to the very narrow path leading up to the temple. On August 20, 2022, two devotees died due to an excessive crowd in the temple, and there is an urgent need for efficient crowd management, the Assembly was told.

Thus, it has been decided that a trust called “Shri Banke Bihari Ji Mandir Nyas” will be constituted for the all-round development of the temple and to oversee pilgrimage, religious, cultural, spiritual, and establishment-related aspects.

It was clarified that since the state legislature was not in session and immediate legislative action was required for this work, the Uttar Pradesh Shri Banke Bihari Ji Mandir Nyas, 2025 (U.P. Ordinance No. 3, 2025) was issued by the governor on May 26. This bill has been introduced to replace the ordinance.

Apart from this, the Uttar Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and Uttar Pradesh State Public Service Commission (Regulation of Procedure) (Amendment) Bill, 2025 were also introduced in the House.