5 Acres, Rs 262 Crore, 10,000 Capacity: Banke Bihari Temple Corridor Plan

The Allahabad High Court has approved the construction of a special corridor for the Banke Bihari Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura. The temple corridor, to be built on the lines of the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple Corridor, will offer devotees three convenient routes to reach the Krishna temple.

The construction of the historic corridor will cost Rs 262 crore which will be funded by the UP government. To be built over 5 acres, over 10,000 devotees can stay inside the complex at a time. Devotees will be able reach the temple through three routes -- from Jugalghat, Vidyapeeth intersection and from the Jadoun parking.

The corridor, which will surround the temple, will have two floors. The ground floor of the entrance complex will be spread over 11,300 square meters. The ground floor will also house shops selling for puja items and include a corridor of Krishna paintings.

There will also be a  3.500 square-metre waiting room built for pilgrims and 5,113 square meters will be an open area.

The Yogi Adityanath government's proposal for the corridor faced strong opposition from local residents who said they will be displaced or their daily lives will be disrupted by the project. Priests and shopkeepers also wrote letter to the Chief Minister with their blood, requesting him to stop the project.

On Monday, a bench comprising Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava gave approval for the UP government scheme proposing the new corridor. The state government ensured that the construction would not hinder the devotees while offering prayers at the Banke Bihari Temple.

The Vrindavan temple is one of the most popular pilgrim sites in North India for Krishna devotees.

The corridor is among many proposed to be built by the BJP government across the country to boost religious tourism within India. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Mahakal Corridor last year at the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in  Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain.