5 Acre Banke Bihari corridor in Vrindavan is proposed to facilitate pilgrims

Survey for identification of property and cost estimation is in full swing for the proposed 5 acre Banke Bihari Corridor in Vrindavan, Mathura District of UP. The proposed corridor for Thakur BankeBihari ji temple is expected to be similar to Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and Ujjain Mahakal Corridor, which were appreciated by pilgrims.  

As many as 322 buildings including residential properties and shops have been identified which need to be acquired and demolished for the proposed corridor. There will be three routes for devotees to reach the corridor comfortably –

• one coming from Jugalghat
• second one from Vidyapith square and
• third from Jadaun parking.

Four ancient temples, falling within the identified land, will be preserved.

Why is Banke Bihari corridor necessary?

BankeBihari temple is one of the most crowded temples of Vrindavan. The temple is over crowded with pilgrims on Holi and Janmasthami apart from other religious festivals related to Lord Krishna. On a regular day, around one to two lakh devotees visit this temple and on Janmasthami and Holi, this count goes up to five to ten lakhs.

In 2022, two persons died of suffocation and stampede during Mangal Aarti on the occasion of Janmasthami. UP Government had formed a committee to probe the situation and to ensure proper plan for safety of pilgrims. According to UP Cabinet Minister Laxmi Narain Chaudhary, the new Banke Bihari corridor can accommodate around 5000 devotees at a time.

Earlier, on December 25^th, 2022, Allahabad High Court had ordered the district administration to submit Bihari ji’s temple development plan along with estimated costs by January 17, 2023. A committee of 8 members started surveying and identified the properties and are estimating the cost of acquiring them. The same will be submitted before the Allahabad High Court.

Facilities expected from Banke Bihari Corridor

• The new corridor will be able to handle huge number of devotees safely.
• The structure of ancient temple will be preserved as it is.
• There will be 3 routes to enter the temple which can be effectively used to control crowd during festivals
• Jugalghat road is expected to be 25 meter wide
• Vidyapith road will be 7 meter wide
• Jaduan Parking road will be 15 meter wide
• Jugalghat of Vrindavan Parikrama Marg will be the main entrance to Banke Bihari Corridor
• The public toilets near Jugalghat and Bihari ji police outpost will be shifted within the corridor
• Five parking lots are proposed to handle traffic jam caused by excess vehicles.
• CCTV and pilgrim facilitation center will be available

The sevayats are unhappy about this decision as some of them have 100 years old property which will be demolished as part of this project. They are planning to go to Supreme Court against decision of UP Government, once the report is submitted to Allahabad High Court. According to them, the construction of corridor will destroy the ancient form of Vrindavan and ancient Kunj streets.