![[File] Devotees arrive to offer prayers at the Kedarnath Temple during the Char Dham Yatra | PTI](https://img.theweek.in/content/dam/week/week/news/india/images/2025/6/24/kedarnath-chardham-pti.jpg.image.340.191.jpg "[File] Devotees arrive to offer prayers at the Kedarnath Temple during the Char Dham Yatra | PTI")
The Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has proposed restricting the entry of non-Hindus in all temples under its jurisdiction, including the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines.
BKTC Chairman and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hemant Dwivedi said a formal resolution to this effect will be passed at the upcoming meeting of the temple committee’s board. The BKTC manages a total of 45 temples.
Dwivedi claimed that the entry of non-Hindus had traditionally been restricted at these temples, but these “long-standing traditions were violated” during the tenure of non-BJP governments.
श्री बद्रीनाथ और केदारनाथ मंदिरों साहित BKTC के अधीनस्थ मंदिरों में ग़ैर-हिंदुओं का प्रवेश वर्जित किए जाने को लेकर योजना बनाई जा रही है। इस संबंध में प्रस्ताव जल्द ही श्री बद्रीनाथ-केदारनाथ मंदिर समिति (BKTC) की आगामी बोर्ड बैठक में लाकर पारित किए जाने की तैयारी है।
— Hemant Dwivedi (@HemantdwivediUK) January 26, 2026
केदारखंड से… pic.twitter.com/6YkTzhoot2
“To uphold the sanctity of these shrines and ensure the proper observance of age-old traditions, concrete measures will now be implemented by the temple committee,” he stated in a statement.
Other temples managed by BKTC include Shri Tunganath temple, Mata Murti temple at Badrinath, Narsingh temple at Joshimath, Shri Madmaheshwar temple and Onkareshwar temple at Ukhimath.
#WATCH | Uttarakhand | Continuous heavy snowfall in Kedarnath Dham has blanketed the entire Kedarnath township under a thick layer of snow measuring nearly three to four feet. Due to the accumulation of snow, all pedestrian routes in the shrine area have been completely blocked.… pic.twitter.com/Dh90RP7IJj
— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2026
The Opposition Congress, however, criticised the move, calling it an attempt to divert public attention from more pressing issues facing the state, reported The Wire.
“There is no need for any such formal prohibition as non-Hindus don’t enter these temples. They (BJP) just want to divert the public attention from pressing issues of the state," Congress state vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana was quoted by the portal.
