Adityanath govt will snatch away Brahmins' livelihood: UP priests

New Delhi: In Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, temple priests have turned against the BJP-ruled Adityanath government against its decision to form a trust for the management of Banke Bihari Mandir in Vrindavan. The priests called the government’s move “anti-brahmin”, The Telegraph reported.

On the issue, the former chairman of the Bihari Mandir, Tarachand Goswami, told The Telegraph that it was because of the penance of their ancestors that God appeared there. When the temple became revered under their supervision, the state government took over its administration with the pretext of regulating its management, he said.

A second priest, Vishnu Goswami, told the news house that Yogi Adityanath’s government is deliberately trying to snatch the livelihood of Brahmins.

Last week, the Uttar Pradesh government passed an ordinance to set up the Shri Banke Bihari Mandir Nyas Trust, which is entrusted with overseeing the management of the temple and its everyday rituals.

It is learned that the Goswami community has been managing the temple for centuries. Goswami priests warned that if the government did not retreat from its fresh decision, they would take away the idol inside the temple, which, according to them, was installed by their ancestor in 1864.

The Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand, Swami Avimukhteshwarananand, also came in support of the priest's dissent. He said that a government that confiscates temples could not be secular and accused the Yogi Adityanath government of operating with some ulterior motives. The government is against the Goswami tradition and wants to have its official priests, the Shankaracharya said.

Meanwhile, the state government’s side is that a trust is essential for the construction of a Banke Bihari Corridor around the temple at a cost of Rs 500 crore.