Mathura temple reopens after two days of uproar

Mathura: A two-day stir that was triggered by a green tribunal ordered demolition in which a portion of the Daan-Ghati temple was razed has been called off.

A meeting between district officials and protesting priests late on Thursday broke the deadlock and it was decided that all the temples would be opened on Friday.

Angered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered clearance exercise of major roads that brought down a portion of the prayer hall of Daan-Ghati in Govardhan, all temples in this pilgrim town were shut since Tuesday.

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Hindu leaders and godmen had taken to streets after downing shutters on the temples and even targeted Mathura MP Hema Malini and BJP legislator and state Power Minister Srikant Sharma for failing to stop the sacrilege.

Anti-government slogans were raised forcing the district administration to stop the demolition drive.

District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra had to allay fears that no further temple structures would be razed.

"We have only demolished illegal structures in front of the Daan-Ghati temple, as was ordered by the NGT", Mishra said.

A priest at the Daan-Ghati temple, Rameshwar Purohit, said the decision to reopen was taken as hundreds of pilgrims and devotees had been returning without paying obeisance at one of the two main temples in Govardhan.

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Daan-Ghati is one of the two main temple structures in Govardhan, near here. The other temple structure is called Dasvisa. Daan-Ghati's deity is in the form of a rock, which is said to be going down into earth by a few millimeters every year.

The other temples which had remained closed for the past two days included Laxmi Narayan temple, Mansi Ganga's Mukharvind temple, Hargokul temple.