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'Corridor In Vrindavan, Improved Facilities': What Is Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill?
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The legislation promises improved facilities, streamlined crowd management, and greater financial transparency, while assuring that centuries-old rituals remain untouched.
Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill, 2025, was presented and passed in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday — the third day of Monsoon Session. The legislation promises improved facilities, streamlined crowd management, and greater financial transparency, while assuring that centuries-old rituals remain untouched. The bill also proposes the creation of a Banke Bihari Corridor to manage the overwhelming crowds at the revered temple.
What is Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust Bill, 2025?
The bill seeks to establish a statutory trust with full administrative authority over the temple's assets, finances, crowd management, and facilities, while pledging to preserve the shrine's centuries-old traditions. Interestingly, the bill was tabled despite the Supreme Court recently staying a similar ordinance issued on May 26 this year, which aimed to bring the temple under a newly created trust. On August 8, the apex court set up an interim 14-member committee, headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Ashok Kumar, to oversee the temple's day-to-day affairs until the Allahabad High Court decides on the ordinance's validity.
The government has cited the August 2022 stampede at the temple, in which two devotees died and seven were injured, as a major reason for introducing the bill. The shrine occupies around 870 square metres, with only 365 square metres functioning as the viewing courtyard. Narrow access routes to the temple, combined with lakhs of devotees arriving annually – especially during festivals – create acute congestion. The 2022 tragedy, the government's statement says, exposed the urgent need for efficient crowd control, safer facilities, and regulated darshan arrangements. The bill also ties into the state's vision for a Banke Bihari Corridor, modelled on Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, to ease access and improve infrastructure for pilgrims.
Corridor Project and Legal Disputes
The corridor plan has been embroiled in legal disputes. After the Kashi Vishwanath project's inauguration in February 2022, the Adityanath government shifted its focus to Vrindavan's most famous shrine. It proposed using temple funds to acquire five acres of surrounding land for the corridor, prompting opposition from the temple's Goswami priest community. The Allahabad High Court barred the use of temple funds for the project. In May this year, the Supreme Court overruled the High Court, allowing the funds to be used, after which the state issued the May 26 ordinance creating the trust. But following a review petition from the Goswamis, the court modified its earlier order, deleting the part that permitted use of temple funds and acknowledging it had erred by not hearing the priest community. This led to the stay on the ordinance earlier this month.
Custodianship and Administrative Powers
The bill proposes the formation of the Shri Banke Bihari Ji Temple Trust as the custodian of all movable and immovable assets of the shrine, including idols, ornaments, jewellery, cash, cheques, drafts, hundi collections, gifts, grants, contributions, and properties. It grants the trust powers to set darshan timings, appoint priests and staff, determine their salaries, ensure the safety of devotees, and maintain financial transparency through proper record-keeping. The trust would also be empowered to acquire movable or immovable property worth up to Rs20 lakh without state approval, with larger purchases requiring government sanction. It would be authorised to resolve disputes over claims to the deity, temple, or associated lands.
Composition of the Proposed Trust
According to the bill, the Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust will have 18 members – 11 nominated and 7 ex-officio. All nominated members must be Sanatani Hindus, including three eminent representatives from Vaishnav sects, three from other Sanatan Dharma traditions, three distinguished individuals such as scholars or social workers, and two Goswami tradition representatives – one each from the Raj-Bhog and Shayan-Bhog Sevayats, descendants of the temple's 16th-century founder, Swami Haridas Ji. Ex-officio members will include the District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police, Municipal Commissioner, CEOs of the Braj Teerth Kshetra Vikas Parishad and the Trust, and a state government nominee. If any ex-officio nominee is non-Hindu or not aligned with Sanatan Dharma, a junior officer will replace them. The Trust's CEO will hold ADM rank, and trustees will not be personally liable for decisions made in good faith.
Promised Facilities for Devotees
The bill also promises provisions for improved facilities for devotees, including prasad distribution centres, dedicated darshan paths for the elderly and persons with disabilities, drinking water stations, resting benches, queue and access management kiosks, cow shelters, an Annakshetra (community kitchen), hotels, inns, exhibition halls, canteens, and waiting rooms. These, the government says, will provide world-class amenities without disrupting religious practices. It has assured that all rituals, festivals, customs, and traditions of the temple will continue without change.
Political Debate and Community Concerns
Politically, the move has sparked debate, as the BJP – now championing the bill – has historically opposed government interference in temple administration. The Goswami priest community fears the trust could dilute their traditional control over the shrine's affairs. The government, however, insists that the trust will be an autonomous body designed to 'preserve and formalise existing traditions" while ensuring 'financial transparency" and accountability. 'The purpose of the trust is not to take over assets or properties of the temple. Instead, it is to merely ensure that financial transparency is maintained," the official statement clarified.
Though the Assembly has passed the bill, its implementation remains stalled due to ongoing court proceedings. Until the Supreme Court's stay is lifted and the legal questions resolved, the trust will remain on paper only, with the interim committee continuing to manage the shrine's affairs.
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Banke Bihari temple vrindavan
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Location :
Lucknow, India, India
First Published:
August 14, 2025, 16:19 IST
News explainers 'Corridor In Vrindavan, Improved Facilities': What Is Shri Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill?
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