DEHRADUN: Attempts by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to install a lightning rod on the roof of the Kedarnath temple — to protect the centuries-old shrine from getting damaged in case of sudden lighting strikes — have met with stiff resistance from the priests there. Sources in ASI said that priests have shot down the idea and said, “Lord Shiva can protect the shrine on his own and does not need technological intervention.”A senior ASI official who is in the team undertaking restoration work at Kedarnath told TOI, “It is part of our protocol to ensure that a building is not damaged due to lightning strike by installing a rod on the roof top which is connected to the ground through a copper wire. However, when we began undertaking this activity in the Kedarnath shrine, the priests created a ruckus and did not let us proceed.”Bhagat Prasad, one of the priests at the temple, said, “Our priests were unhappy about the copper rod mounted on the roof top since it was located just above the seat of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. A big disaster like the floods of 2013 could not damage the temple due to the divine powers possessed by this abode of Lord Shiva. Why is there a need for unnecessary technology to safegurad the shrine?”Meanwhile, district magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal, who mediated between both the sides, sought to find a middle path by asking ASI to install the rod a few meters away from the temple. However, ASI officials said that this arrangement may not work. “Installing the rod even 40-50 metres away from the temple will not serve our purpose. Instead, it may backfire and damage the temple in case of a lightening strike,” the ASI official said.

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