The gold plating was done under the supervision of the experts from the Archaeological Survey of India, the minister said, adding a donor had bought the gold and got it inlaid on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum with the temple committee having no direct role in it
The Uttarakhand government has decided to take action in response to allegations of a Rs 1.25 billion scam involving the gold plating of the sanctum Sanctorum at the Kedarnath temple and set up a high-level committee to probe the issue.
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The government has instructed Secretary of Culture and religious affairs Harichandra Semwal to form a high-level inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the Garhwal commissioner to get to the bottom of the matter, said the state’s Tourism, Religion and Culture Minister Satpal Maharaj on Friday.
Maharaj has asked the Secretary to include technical experts as well as goldsmiths in the inquiry committee.
The state government is “extremely sensitive” about the matter. Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty, the Minister added.
DONATION ACCEPTED
Maharaj clarified that according to the provisions in the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Act, 1939, donation was accepted and permission was taken from the state government to gold-plate the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple.
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WORK DONE BY DONOR
The gold plating was done under the supervision of the experts from the Archaeological Survey of India, the minister said, adding a donor had bought the gold and got it inlaid on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum with the temple committee having no direct role in it.
After completion of the work, its bill and other papers were submitted by the donor to the temple committee, Maharaj informed and accused the Opposition parties of trying to disturb the Chardham Yatra by giving “unnecessary” weightage to the matter.
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GOLD PLANTING OF SANCTUM SANCTORUM AT THE KEDARNATH TEMPLE
Earlier, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee had in a statement said 23,777.800 grams of gold were used in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Its current value was about Rs 14.38 crore, while the total weight of the copper plates used for the gilded work was 1,001.300 kg of a total value of Rs 29 lakh.
Recently, Teerth Purohit of Kedarnath Temple and Vice President of Chardham Mahapanchayat Santosh Trivedi released a video on social media alleging that instead of gold plating on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum, brass has been used and the scam was of about Rs 1.25 billion.
(With PTI inputs)
