UP Govt’s Show Business and Kashi Vishwanath Temple

When UP Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 5.5 Crores for face-lifting Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in Varanasi, it was seen as a method to appease Hindu voters. For example, The Indian Express writes [URL]:

“In a move, which political experts say has been undertaken to counter BJP’s Hindutva agenda, the Uttar Pradesh government has sanctioned Rs 5.50 crore for beautification of Kashi Vishwanath temple in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi.

The move is seen as another attempt by Akhilesh Yadav to fortify his chances for a second term when the state goes to polls in 2017.”

But if you think about it, Rs 5.5 Crores is too small a sum to make any serious ‘facelift’. It could change a few tiles, do a little whitewash, but won’t change the temple complex for the better. The temple is situated in a crowded place, surrounded by small shops dominated by Muslims. People who go to do ‘darshan’ need to stand by the side of a stinking drainage – this has been a personal experience. The temple needs serious improvement in infrastructure and it can’t be done in paltry Rs 5.5 Crores.

At the same time, we need to be informed that the same UP Government has been trying hard to ‘milk’ the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, to earn higher revenues. In this news article [URL], you can read about it:

“Eyeing higher donation income to the revered Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling to study the trust administrations of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (Balaji shrine) and Shirdi Sai Baba which receive donations running into several hundred crores of rupees. In comparison, the annual donations to Kashi Vishwanath come to a paltry Rs 4-5 crore.

UP minister of state (independent charge) for religious affairs Vijay Kumar Mishra directed officials to install donation boxes and ‘hundis’ in the Varanasi temple on the pattern of Tirupati Balaji and Shirdi temple trusts.

He asked officials for physical verification of the Trust properties and collation of details of its properties located in other states.

He said official website of the Kashi Vishwanath temple should be constructed and the facility of ‘online darshan’ to devotees be facilitated.”

After knowing all this, it appears clear that this small token of Rs 5.5 Crores is just a means to trick people into believing that the Govt is doing something good for the temple. The fact is that the govt is investing a bit of the earnings made from the temple, so that it could earn even higher. In the end, the state govt wants to milk the temple’s donations for its own good.