GANGOTRI, June 28, 2013: As grim pictures of the flood-ravaged Kedarnath shrine grip the nation's attention, the famed Gangotri temple is in peril. Cracks have appeared in this 19th-century shrine, considered the spiritual source of the Ganga. A stream threatens to wash away parts of the complex as heavy rains lash the region.

The Gangotri temple, one of the four revered shrines on the Char Dham circuit, houses Goddess Ganga's idol. It's located on the banks of the Bhagirathi, 18km from the source of the river.

Years of damage caused by extreme weather and ingress of glacial waters have caused cracks on the temple building and the complex wall. A portion of the wooden roof planks has broken. Priests say rain and absence of measures to protect the shrine in winters, when the area is covered in snow, are responsible for the damage.

Pandit Dronacharya Semwal, a Gangotri priests, says a stream called Bhairon Jhaap has become a threat. "This is a rubble-carrying glacial stream from which lot of water enters the temple complex. In the winters, it freezes and covers the area in ice. This is why the temple has developed cracks," he explains.

The Semwals come from Mukhwa village in Uttarkashi and are sole custodians of religious activity at the temple. After the Kedarnath devastation, the priests and the temple staff here are scared. "We don't know what'll happen. If there are heavy rains, we're at the mercy of Ganga Maiyya," Jai Prakash Semwal, another priest, says. The Semwals and a few staffers are among the handful of people left in the area. Pilgrims and shopkeepers left after the landslides. The priests insist they won't move out. "We are ready to die, but won't move out before the designated time — a few days after Diwali," one priest says. The Semwals migrate to Mukhwa with Goddess Ganga's idol in winter, when the temple is shut for six months.

With the pilgrims gone, the community is left without its only source of income. "This is the only time we make money as devotees throng the temple and give us dakshina. With this season gone and the next pilgrimage season looking bleak, we aren't sure what'll happen," says Dronacharya Semwal.

The temple, built by Gurkha general Amar Singh Thapa, is situated not far from the China border.

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 28, 2013.