On Thursday (June 15), a video of ‘Acharya’ Santosh Trivedi surfaced on social media wherein he accused the Badri-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) of engineering a ‘gold scam.’
Trivedi, who serves as the Vice-President of Char Dham Tirth Purohit Samaj, claimed that the gold plating inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple has transformed into brass.
In a viral video, he could be heard saying, “The sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple was studded with gold, only a few months ago. Today, when I came to visit the sacred shine, I saw that the gold plating has transformed into brass.”
“Why did the authorities not examine the gold? And who is responsible for this? Which member of the temple committee is liable for this? A scam of ₹125 crore has taken place in Kedarnath,” he claimed.
Trivedi alleged, “Gold which was said to be worth ₹125 crores has changed into brass…This is a fraud…Who did this? There should be immediate action against those accused. The gold was given to the temple committee. Why didn’t they inspect the gold?
He further added, “When we opposed the decision of putting up gold plates in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, they put up these plates overnight in contravention to our tradition. At that time, the deity was asleep. But, they nevertheless put up gold plates stealthily.”
“If action is not taken against those accused, then, we will launch a protest and drive them away from the temple,” the Congress-friendly Acharya warned.
Several news publications including Congress mouthpiece National Herald reiterated the allegations levelled by ‘Acharya’ Santosh Trivedi about a supposed gold scam at the Kedarnath temple.
It must be mentioned that a Maharashtra-based businessman donated 230 kg of gold to the Kedarnath temple as he wished to see the walls of the sanctum sanctorum plated with the precious metal.
His ‘long-held wish’ was granted by the Badri-Kedarnath Temple Committee and the Government of Uttarakhand.
Badri-Kedarnath Temple Committee debunks viral claims
The Committee, which manages the Kedarnath temple, has rubbished the claims of ‘Acharya’ Santosh Trivedi. In a press release on Thursday (June 15), it said, “The work of decorating the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Kedarnath Temple with gold plates was done in the year 2022 with the help of a donor.”
At present, a video is being circulated on social media by some people that gold worth ₹ 1,15,00,00,000 (One Billion Fifteen Crore rupees) has been placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Misleading information is being circulated without facts. Efforts are also being made to hurt the sentiments of the public,” the press release read.
It pointed out, “…The Shri Badri-Kedarnath Temple Committee would like to clarify that a total of 23,777.800 grams of gold has been placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Kedarnath Temple with the help of a donor. The current value of the used gold, according to the market rate is approximately Rs ₹14.38 crores.”
The Badri-Kedarnath Temple Committee added that copper plates along with gold have been used to decorate the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. “The total weight of the copper plates used is 1,001.300 kg, whose total value is ₹29,00,000,” it emphasised.
While refuting the outrageous claims of ‘Acharya’ Santosh Trivedi, the Committee said that legal action has been initiated against those found peddling fake news about the Kedarnath temple.
