UP: Safai's Kedareshwar temple stirs row

A growing religious and political controversy has engulfed Uttar Pradesh's Saifai, the native village of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, over the construction of a new temple named Kedareshwar Mahadev Dham.

- BISWAJEET BANERJEE

LUCKNOW:

Leading Hindu seer groups have strongly objected to the temple's design, claiming it is a replica of the revered Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand and undermines the sanctity of one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Sanatan Dharma.

The Char Dham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat, Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, and other major religious organisations have alleged that the project is an attempt to politicise religious symbolism ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. They argue that reproducing Kedarnath's iconic design in a politically significant region blurs the line between devotion and electoral strategy.