In eye of storm, Dhami cabinet proposes law that would stop others from using chardham temple names

“In view of this, the cabinet has decided to implement strict legal provisions by the state government in the interest of the state. Now no person or institution within or outside the state will be able to form any committee or trust in the name of the four dhams and major temples of the state. This will also resolve the dispute arising in this regard,” the statement said citing public sentiments as the reason for the decision.

Significantly, this comes at a time when Dhami’s BJP is coming under fire for the Delhi temple not only from the Opposition Congress but also from Kedarnath Dham’s priests, who held a sit-in protest earlier this week against the Delhi temple. It also comes at a time when the Congress, in a bid to corner the state’s Dhami government on the issue, has decided to hold a padyatra from Haridwar from Kedarnath later this month.

Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag district holds spiritual significance for Hindus. The temple, along with Uttarakhand’s Badrinath, is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the 12 jyotirlingas, considered his devotional representation.

The BJP has welcomed the Cabinet’s decision. In an official statement, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt said the move would end all possible “misuse” of the dhams’ names. He also asked the Opposition Congress to “respect public sentiments” and refrain from using “holy places” for its politics.

The Delhi temple isn’t the first one to be seemingly named after one of the four dhams. Responding to the Congress’s attacks this week, Bhatt said that Delhi shrine was merely a temple and not a dham. He also pointed out that naming temples after significant holy places was not uncommon, citing as example the Badrinath temple in Mumbai whose groundbreaking ceremony former Uttarakhand chief minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat attended in 2015.

According to legal experts, however, such a law would violate Article 245 of the Indian Constitution, which clearly defines the jurisdiction of the central and state governments.

“Anyone can establish a Bajrang Bali temple, a Bholenath temple, or even a Kedarnath temple anywhere. If I believe in Baba Kedar’s presence somewhere else, the law cannot prevent me from believing that. Besides, a state cannot create a law that extends its jurisdiction beyond its own borders,” Hari Shankar Jain, an advocate who represents the Hindu petitioners in the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque dispute, told The Indian Express.

Kartikeya Kari Gupta, another advocate and author of the 2016 book ‘Sustainable Development Law: The Law for the Future’, advocates against using the names of the chardhams for other temples. However, he also believes that the Uttarakhand Cabinet’s proposal is no solution.

“Even if such a law were enacted, enforcing it in another state would be challenging,” Gupta said.