Vice President of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) Kishor Panwar on Friday said that no new crack have been seen in the Lion Gate of Shri Badrinath temple and no landslide has occurred recently in the Badrinath temple area.
"The festival of Raksha Bandhan was celebrated with great pomp at Badrinath Dham. Devotees offered Raksha Sutra to Lord Badri Vishal," Media in-charge of Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Harish Gaur told ANI on Thursday.
The preparations for the Annakoot (Bhatuj) fair to be held at Kedarnath Dham at midnight, a day before Raksha Bandhan began on Tuesday, said the president of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee.
A transparent glass house has been built by Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC). The donations and valuable materials will be montiored through CCTV cameras in the Glass House.
The BKTC chairman further said that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, has also directed that every possible help should be provided to the pilgrims in case the road gets blocked during the rainy season.
Boards are put up in several places of the temple premises which read, 'Do not enter the temple premises with mobile phones; any kind of photography and videography is strictly prohibited inside the temple and you are under the surveillance of CCTV cameras'.
Congress leader and former president of Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee Ganesh Godiyal said, "When the colour of the gold had discoloured in a case of 2005, this time how did the temple committee give a tax exemption certificate to the donor without checking the gold?"
Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) president Ajendra Ajay has said that gold-plating has been done on the jaleri of sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath temple and a transparent acrylic layer has also been applied over it so that the gold polish is not damaged
Refuting the claims on social media platforms that the gold plating of the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple is brass, Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) termed it a "conspiracy".
"Till Friday, 2922 VIP devotees reached Kedarnath Dham for darshan, from which an income of Rs 8,76,600 was generated. Similarly, 5319 VIP pilgrims have so far travelled to Badrinath Dham, from which an income of Rs 15,95,700 was generated," BKTC President Ajendra Ajay.
Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Chairman Ajendra Ajay appealed to the pilgrims visiting Kedarnath to take information about the weather before heading for yatra and said that the state government and the temple committee have made all arrangements for the Chardham Yatra.
"The boards at various places in Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham containing donations through QR codes were not put up by the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC). These boards were installed on the day of the opening of the doors in both Dhams. The boards were later removed by BKTC