The gold layering work inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple has triggered a controversy with senior priest Santosh Trivedi, also the vice president of the Char Dham Mahapanchayat accusing the top management of committing a Rs 125 crore scam in the name of gold plating, as per the Indian Express.
Refuting the allegations the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee has termed it as 'conspiracy'.
In its clarification, the BKTC has said the donor had expressed his desire to golden crust the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Kedarnath Temple. Respecting the feelings of the donor, the permission was granted after examining the proposal.
BKTC has clarified that according to the provisions laid down in the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee Act-1939, donations have been accepted from the donors and permission has been taken from the state government to make the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Kedarnath temple gold-plated.
The gold plating was done under the supervision of the experts of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). BKTC has also clarified that the work of making the sanctum sanctorum gold-plated has been done by the donor himself. Copper plates were prepared by the donor from the jewellers at his own level and then gold was plated on them. The donor got these plates installed in the temple through his jewellers.
With ANI Inputs