Saints not happy with Modi trust. Within 24 hours of the constitution of the Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust by the Modi government, voices of protest have started emanating from the seers and saints in Ayodhya. The saints are upset over the fact that the saint community has not been given adequate representation in the 15-member trust.
A formal meeting of saints will be held later in the day at Digambar Akhara to decide the future course of action, sources said.
A large number of saints began collecting at the Maniram Chavni ashram of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the chief trustee of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, since Thursday morning.
The saints had been demanding that Mahant Nritya Gopal Das be appointed as head of the new trust.
The centre, however, has named K Parasaran, the main lawyer of the Hindu side in the Supreme Court, as the head of the trust.
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das also expressed ‘surprise’ at the formation of the trust.”Those who have made sacrifices for the temple movement have been completely ignored. This is an insult to the saints of Ayodhya,” he said.
Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, designated successor to Nritya Gopal Das, said that the Vaishnav Samaj had been completely ignored in the trust. “We do not accept this trust,” he said.
Commenting on the inclusion of Bimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, the Ayodhya Raja, in the trust, the saint said that he was a political leader who had contested election on a BSP ticket. He said that Mishra had nothing to do with the Ayodhya movement.
Mahant Suresh Das of Digambar Akhara has also voiced his opposition to the new trust which “includes those who were nowhere in the temple movement.”
Mahant Paramhas Das of Tapasvi Chavni, who had put forward the name of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as head of the trust, had started an indefinite fast in protest at the Bilardeeh Shiva temple in Chandauli.
Chandrakant Bhai Sompura, the man who had designed the Ram temple model 33 years ago, is likely to be a member of the trust for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The temple trust will have to select two prominent persons by a majority resolution to be part of the trust. One of them could be Chandrakant Bhai Sompura.
The 76-year-old architect was given the responsibility to design the temple by then Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal.
The VHP on Wednesday claimed that the 80 per cent of the work of the temple is complete and a grand temple will be built at Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya by 2024-25.
According to sources, the temple will be on the lines of the design made by Sompura and he will oversee the entire construction process.
For the record, Sompura’s grandfather Prabhakar Sompura was the architect of Somnath temple in Gujarat and the temple in Mathura. Chandrakant Sompura has himself designed more than 100 temples across the country.
According to the VHP, the design or the model of the Ram temple has been prepared at least six times. The temple construction work is going on as per the model prepared by Chandrakant Sompura, it said.
It took more than six months for Chandrakant Sompura to make the design of the Ram temple.
The proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya has been designed in the Nagar style, prevalent in north India. The temple will have octagonal sanctum sanctorum as envisaged by Chandrakant Sompura. The ground floor of the two-floor temple would house Ram Lalla, the deity, while the first floor will have the ‘Ram darbar’, with idols of Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman.
No iron will be used for the construction of the temple. The main structure will be 270 metres long, 145 feet wide and 141 feet high with 251 pillars.
According to VHP sources, a puja will be performed before the start of the construction work. There will be no shilanyas (stone worship) this time as it has already been done, it said.
There is a plan to set up a structure commemorating those who laid down their lives for the temple, the VHP added.
The Ram Janambhoomi Nyas has said that with the Centre constituting the ‘Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust for temple, the construction is expected to begin on Ram Navami this year.
Senior member of the Nyas, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das said that construction of the temple may begin by Ram Navami in April.
Triloki Nath Pandey, who holds the decree of Ram Janambhoomi mandated by the Supreme Court, said that Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chief trustee of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas had probably not been included in the newly formed trust since he and VHP vice president Champat Rai are accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
However, he hoped that they would be included in the new trust once the case against them ends which is likely in March.
VHP working president Alok Kumar said that the construction of the Ram Mandir must start at the earliest. He also urged the Hindus to take out mass processions from March 25 to April 8 with photographs of Lord Ram and Ram Janambhoomi in every village and city.
Muslim litigant Iqbal Ansari, whose father Hashim Ansari was the original plaintiff in the Babri title suit case, has suggested that the five acre land given to the Sunni Waqf Board in lieu of the mosque could be used to build a ‘dharamshala’ for devotees coming to Ayodhya, with the facility of free boarding and lodging. (IANS)