1. Independent status
Banke Bihari Temple Guide is an independent informational resource. It is not the official temple website and is not operated by or affiliated with Shri Banke Bihari Temple, its sevayat Goswamis, its management committee, any court-appointed committee or any government body. The temple's official website is bihariji.org (opens in a new tab). We link to it as an external primary source and never present our pages as official information.
2. Who is accountable
The guide is edited by Sai Kiran, who is responsible for what we publish, for reviewing pages against their sources, and for corrections.
3. How we use AI tools
Pages are researched and drafted by the editorial desk with the help of AI tools, which are used for research assistance, drafting and consistency checks. AI output is not treated as a source. Facts on the site must come from a cited source, and each page is checked against the sources it cites. A page shows "Reviewed by" with a date only when the editor has personally reviewed it. We do not claim that every statement has been independently verified unless it has.
4. Source hierarchy
We prefer primary sources (the official temple website, government, court and official transport sources), then established secondary sources (newspapers, law reporters, credible books and academic work), and only then tertiary sources (encyclopedias, travel and aggregator sites), which we label. We never rely on a tertiary source alone for an important claim when a primary source exists. The full method and every source we cite are on our sources page.
5. First-hand observation
We describe something as first-hand only if a named contributor saw it on a recorded date. First-hand observations are published as dated field notes that state their location and limitations. At present the guide contains no first-hand observations, and no page should imply otherwise.
6. Religious tradition and historical fact
We write about the temple's traditions with respect, and we do not present them as historical fact. We label claims as historical record, temple tradition, religious belief, reported or secondary, and phrase traditional accounts accordingly, for example "according to the temple's account".
7. Verifying dates
Where sources give different dates, as with the construction of the present temple (1862 AD in the temple's history, 1864 in some other sources), we show the disagreement and say which source we follow. Festival dates come from the temple's calendar for the year.
8. Current information
Timings, rules, crowd arrangements and administrative matters are treated as time-sensitive. Each such fact records its source, the date it was last checked and its status: verified, partially verified, secondary source only, reported, sources disagree, or needs review. We do not provide real-time status. We show the temple's published regular schedule and say so. A page's "last updated" date changes only when the page has changed in substance, and "sources checked" changes only when the sources were actually re-checked.
9. Corrections
We correct errors promptly and record significant corrections in a public correction log with the date, the change, the reason and the source.
10. No paid placement
We do not accept payment for editorial content or mentions. There is no advertising on the site at present; if that changes, it will be clearly labelled and kept separate from editorial content.
11. What we never publish
- Fake reviews, ratings or testimonials.
- Invented first-hand experiences, visitor stories or field observations.
- Photographs presented as our own that we did not take, or images presented as something they are not.
- Invented authors, credentials or qualifications.
- Claims of official status or affiliation with the temple or any government body.
- Facilities, rules or timings we have not found in a reliable source.
- Pages created only to target a search phrase, without unique, useful information.
12. When we create a new page
A new page must have a distinct purpose for readers, information not already on another page, adequate sources, and editorial review. If an existing page already answers the question, we improve that page instead.