No Ayodhya effect here: Chilkur priest

Chilkuri Balaji Temple head priest C.S. Rangarajan said spiritual heads should come forward to serve the needy without discriminating on the basis of religion.

Priests of all faiths are the servants of the Almighty and without serving the people their task is incomplete as we all are the creatures of God and places of worship are appropriate places to serve people.

The head priest was addressing a meeting at the clinic established in the premises of Masjid-eIshaq in Nawab Sahab Kunta in Hyderabad on the first anniversary of the health centre managed by Helping Hand Foundation, on Friday.

He said community help centres should be opened at places of worship. If spiritual heads do not come forward to mitigate the differences, then certain people will exploit religion to divide the people.

Mr Rangarajan said there is no need to panic over the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue.

“Everyone should accept the judgment to be delivered shortly by the Supreme Court. We, religious heads of different faiths, are also appealing to people to refrain from any reaction. We also appeal to the police department to maintain law and order. We are here to serve humanity for the sake of God,” he said.

“We are in Telangana and Bhadrachalam is called south Ayodhya. Gopanna (Ramdas), a revenue officer, built the temple using a portion of the tax collected for the government and for that he spent 12 years in jail. He was asked to repay the tax amount within 12 years and on the last day, Rama and Laxman appeared in Golconda ruler Abul Hasan Tana Shah’s dream and repaid the entire sum. When Tana Shah woke up, he released Gopanna and afterwards used to send clothes as gifts to the temple. This is South Ayodhya where people of different faiths live, loving each other,” the chief priest said.

Moulana Mufti Mohammed Fayaz (Safa Bait-ul-Maal), Senior Pastor Sion Church and Dr Khalid Mubashir-uzZafar, General Secretary, Jamat e Islami Hind also spoke on the occasion.