The Union Home Ministry has granted registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010 to the famous Banke Bihari temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Vrindavan, enabling it to receive donations from foreign countries for “religious” activity. The temple’s priests, however, said they had never applied for the registration.
The temple committee is locked in a legal battle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the State over the control of the temple’s affairs and funds. The committee includes the State government’s nominees.
The Banke Bihari temple is presently owned and managed by a hereditary community of Sevayat Goswami priests, Saraswat Brahmins, and the descendants of Swami Haridas, who built the temple over 550 years ago.
Sources in the State government said the temple’s funds currently stand at about ₹480 crore, apart from gold and other valuables.
On Friday, the Ministry granted the FCRA registration to the ‘Thakur Shri Bankey Bihari Ji Maharaj Temple’ at Vrindavan under the “Religious (Hindu)” category.
Registration under the FCRA, 2010 is mandatory for non-government organisations (NGOs) and associations to receive foreign funds.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ashok Goswami, one of the temple priests, said he had no idea about the application for the FCRA licence, and said that, for the past several years, the temple had been receiving donations from devotees living in foreign countries who visited the premises.
“Our temple is run through a committee which is formed by the Civil Judge, Junior Division. Apart from the Goswamis, like us, who own the temple property, we have many outsiders in the committee. I cannot comment on who applied for the FCRA licence. But none of the priests applied for it,” he said.
Mr. Goswami also said that the temple receives three types of funding — firstly, devotees contribute directly to the priests; secondly, donations arrive via cheques or other digital payments; and thirdly, contributions are made to donation boxes kept in the temple.
“This looks like a conspiracy to bring the temple under another controversy,” Mr. Goswami alleged.
Members of the Goswami community have petitioned the Allahabad High Court against the State government’s proposal to build around the temple a corridor akin to the Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor to facilitate a smooth darshan for devotees, and better crowd management. The State has submitted in the court that a corridor was necessary after two devotees suffocated to death due to overcrowding inside the temple on the occasion of Janmashtami in 2022.
The court, in past hearings, had asked the State to not meddle with the affairs of the temple, including with its funds, but allowed it to proceed with the corridor project. The matter is sub judice.
Gopi Goswami, another priest, also alleged a conspiracy. “They never asked us whether we want an FCRA [registration] or not. One day, there will some random illegal deposit in this account and the government will hold us accountable for it. It is a trap to defame the temple. We will question the temple management committee formed by the Civil Judge to tell us why this was needed and why they applied for it without consulting us,” he said.
To receive FCRA registration, an NGO has to have a definite cultural, social, religious, economic, or educational programme, and it can be registered under one or multiple categories.
Since 2022, as many as 184 NGOs have received registration under the FCRA for undertaking religious activities as at least one of the programmes. Out of these, 84 NGOs or associations were registered for the ‘Religious (Hindu)‘ category, 54 for the Christian category, seven for the Muslim category, 16 for the Buddhist category, three for the Sikh category, and 20 under the ‘Others’ category.
