Donations pour in for Ram temple
LUCKNOW: Donations for the Ram temple have started pouring in ahead of its ‘bhumi pujan’ on August 5 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.
Meanwhile, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das said: “The (temple) trust is not averse to taking donations from Muslims, if they are willing to donate.” Kamal Nayan is successor-designate of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
On Monday, renowned spiritual guru and ‘katha vachak’ (religious preacher) Morari Bapu announced to donate Rs 5 crore from his Vyaspeeth (ashram) to the trust for construction of the temple.
Bapu had announced, during an online ‘pravachan’ (sermon), that his ashram in Chitrakoot will send Rs 5 crore for construction of the temple and devotees who want to donate money can also contribute.
Politicians have also started donating money for the temple. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya went to Ayodhya along with his wife on Tuesday and donated Rs 6.6 lakh to the trust on behalf of late VHP president Ashok Singhal, his late guru Gurujan Singh and family members.
“Maurya met chairman of the trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and handed over the cheques to him,” said Sharad Sharma, regional spokesperson, VHP, who operates from Karsevakpuram.
THE TEMPLE TRUST IS NOT AVERSE TO TAKING DONATIONS FROM MUSLIMS, SAYS MAHANT KAMAL NAYAN DAS
On March 25, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had donated Rs 11 lakh to the trust for construction of the Ram temple. Adityanath had made the donation during shifting of Ram Lalla from the makeshift temple to a pre-fabricated temple at Ram Janmabhoomi.
The Mahavir Mandir Trust of Patna has also announced to donate Rs 10 crore for construction of Ram temple. It has already donated Rs 2 crore and will donate the remaining amount in instalments of Rs 2 crore every year or as per instructions of the Sri Ram Jan
mabhoomi Tirath Kshetra
Trust.
Apart from cash, devotees are also donating gold and silver to the trust.
Hyderabad-based jeweller K Srinivas has donated a one kg gold brick and five kg silver brick to the trust for construction of the temple.
Ajay Rastogi, state president of the Bullion Jewellers’ Association, Lucknow and members of his association have donated 33 kg silver bricks to the trust.
Through online donations in the past four months, the trust has received around Rs 6 crore in its two bank accounts in State Bank of India, main branch, Ayodhya.
The trust sends acknowledgement receipts of donations along with ‘thanks letter’ by post to the donors. It is hopeful that there will be no shortfall of money for construction of the temple.
The VHP has planned to connect with 10 crore families across the country and collect donations from Rs 1 to Rs 10 from each family for construction of the temple.