Haridwar seers protest building of Kedareshwar temple by Akhilesh Yadav in UP's Etawah

Prominent seers here on Saturday opposed the alleged construction of a temple named Kedareshwar Dham on the lines of the Kedarnath shrine by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at Uttar Pradesh's Etawah.

Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad president Mahant Ravindrapuri said by building a temple in Etawah as a replica of the 12th Jyotirlinga situated in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, Yadav has hatched a "big conspiracy" against Sanatan Dharma and to belittle the importance of the centuries old Himalayan temple.

Ravindrapuri is also the president of Mansa Devi Temple trust and Secretary of Panchayati Shri Niranjani Akhara.


The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad is with the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee and the priests on this issue and strongly condemns this act of Akhilesh Yadav, he said.

Instead of replicating Kedarnath, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister should build another temple dedicated to lord Shiva, he said.

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Lalitananda Giri also said that the construction of Kedareshwar temple in Etawah is wrong.

A temple of Lord Shiva under any other name can be built anywhere but building a temple anywhere else in the name of the 12th Jyotirlinga is wrong, Giri said.

Earlier, an attempt was made to build a temple on the lines of Kedarnath in Delhi but the idea was dropped after vehement protests from the priests of Kedarnath.