Dehradun, July 20 -- Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj has said that a probe has been launched into a Kedarnath temple's replica that is being constructed in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah following objections raised by the state's priests. The temple, named as Kedareshwar Mahadev, is built by the Kedareshwar Mahadev Etawah Temple Trust, and former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is the chief trustee. Yadav shared a video of the temple on his X account on July 14. On Friday, Maharaj said, "The priests have written to the chief minister regarding the temple. The CM will take a decision on the matter... an inquiry is underway to assess how it has been built and what exactly has been constructed." The priests have threatened to stage a protest outside Yadav's residence in Lucknow if the temple's structure and name were not changed. However, former CM and Haridwar MP Trivendra Singh Rawat said, "I have seen replicas of many temples. There is no need to protest over replicas." Santosh Trivedi, a priest at Kedarnath shrine and vice president of Char Dham Tirtha Purohit Mahapanchayat, questioned the "silence" of the state government and Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) over the matter. Trivedi said, "As we opposed the proposed construction of the Kedarnath temple's replica in Delhi, we disapprove the construction of the shrine's replica in Etawah by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. They just want to earn money by making a temple in the name of Kedarnath." "If its structure resembles that of the Kedarnath temple and no changes are made, all the priests of the Char Dham will continue to oppose it... it should not be named after Kedarnath. If the name is not changed, we will stage a protest outside Yadav's residence in Lucknow," he said. Trivedi said, "Even the state government and BKTC haven't done anything about it, even though the state cabinet passed a proposal last year to take action against people, trusts misusing the name of Kedarnath. We also expect Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to intervene in the matter." Satya Narayan Sachan, national general secretary of the Samajwadi Party (SP), said, "Our Constitution grants every citizen and trust the right to construct a temple. We are not drawing any comparison between the temple in Etawah and Kedarnath Dham. The Etawah temple is Kedareshwar Mahadev. It is being built in accordance with the sentiments of the local people. I urge everyone not to politicise the issue." A row had erupted in July last year over the construction of a replica of the Kedarnath temple in Delhi's Burari area after chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended its foundation stone laying ceremony. The Uttarakhand cabinet in its meeting on July 18, 2024 decided to implement strict legal provisions against those organisations, trusts and individuals found misusing the names of Char Dhams or using similar names....