The Shri Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura has ended its VIP pass system following Supreme Court panel directions. New reforms include extended darshan hours, live streaming, and improved security for all devotees.
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh: In a landmark move aimed at ensuring equality and transparency for devotees, the Shri Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura has announced sweeping reforms in its management and darshan system.
The changes were declared by the high-powered management committee, which was formed following directions from the Supreme Court. The committee, in an official statement on Friday, confirmed that the VIP pass system for darshan has been abolished with immediate effect.
According to the District Information Officer, the facility of purchasing VIP slips for priority darshan will no longer be available.
The designated VIP enclosure inside the temple will also be dismantled.
The statement emphasized,
“From now on, every devotee will have to queue up and wait for their turn, ensuring equality and minimizing incidents of crowding or allegations of favoritism,”
The reforms further include streamlining the entry and exit points to manage the flow of devotees more efficiently. Within the next three days, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) will designate specific gates for entry and exit.
Moreover, the temple’s security arrangements will see a significant change. Responsibility will now be handed over to ex-servicemen or professional security agencies, replacing the current system of police personnel and private guards.
To accommodate more devotees and reduce waiting times, the temple has also extended its darshan hours.
“During the summer, darshan will be available for an additional three hours, while in the winter, timings will be extended by two hours and forty-five minutes,”
the committee stated.
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In addition, a live-streaming facility of darshan will be launched soon, enabling devotees from across India and the world to seek blessings from Thakur Ji virtually.
The management committee has also decided to conduct a structural audit of the temple building, which will be carried out by IIT Roorkee. Alongside this, a special audit will review financial and administrative activities between 2013 and 2016.
The committee expects a report from this audit within 15 days. Additionally, an assessment will be conducted to determine the total movable and immovable assets owned by the temple.
In a historic and highly anticipated decision, the committee announced the opening of a sealed chamber within the sanctum sanctorum that has remained closed for many years.
The statement said,
“The process will be recorded on video to document the contents inside the chamber,”
These comprehensive reforms are aimed at making darshan more accessible, transparent, and secure, while maintaining the spiritual sanctity of one of India’s most revered temples.
Devotees and observers have welcomed the changes, seeing them as a step toward fairness, accountability, and modernization in temple management.
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