RAM TEMPLE MODEL TO BE DISPLAYED DURING KANWAR YATRA

LUCKNOW : Volunteers of Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have decided to introduce a specially decked up kanwar (a bamboo contraption), carrying the model of the proposed Ram temple at Ayodhya, during this year’s kanwar yatra in western UP, a Bajrang Dal leader said. The kanwar yatra will begin on July 27 and continue till August 9 this year. It is among the biggest religious events in western UP.

LUCKNOW: Volunteers of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal have decided to introduce a specially decked up kanwar (a bamboo contraption), carrying the model of the proposed Ram temple at Ayodhya, during this year’s kanwar yatra in western UP, a Bajrang Dal leader said.

The kanwar yatra (a religious procession) will begin on July 27 and continue till August 9 this year. It is among the biggest religious events in western UP, which shares its boundary with the hill state of Uttarakhand.

During the yatra, kanwarias, as the yatra participants are called, fill up an earthen vessel with holy water and walk all the way back to offer the water on Shiva idols in temples.

Meerut-based Bajrang Dal leader Milan Som said, “Along with highlighting the cause of the Ram temple we also plan to raise the issue of smuggling and killing of bovines, the issue of love jehad where Muslims often trap Hindu girls into a relationship. We are getting pamphlets published and these will be distributed along the yatra route.”

The volunteers of the Bajrang Dal have ordered the special kanwar that is being prepared in Haridwar. From there, it would be brought to Meerut by over 300 volunteers of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

“We have ordered the special kanwar on the proposed Ram temple,” confirmed Som.

The specially ordered Ram temple kanwar will measure 250 ft by 25 ft. Smaller, regular kanwars too would focus on the temple and other religious themes, VHP leaders said. Over 30,000 activists of Dharma Jagran Manch of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) too would be deployed for the kanwar yatra.

Usually, Dharma Jagram Manch workers are tasked with conducting ‘ghar wapasi’ or homecoming purification rituals for those who return to the Hindu fold.

There were reports that RSS cadres were in touch with rural people in west UP whose participation they wanted to ensure in the kanwar yatra.

The police will be extra cautious when the Ram temple kanwar is brought into western UP, police officials admitted.