Shankaracharya unhappy with Ram temple trust’s composition

Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, the Shankarcharya of Jyotishpeeth, has expressed unhappiness with the composition of the newly formed Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust constituted by the Centre to oversee construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

He has objected to the inclusion of Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati in the trust as a Shankaracharya, despite different courts having ruled against his use of the title.

He said the trust was not in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling.

“Inclusion of Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati in the trust as a Shankaracharya is a clear violation of the apex court’s ruling. Various courts, including the Supreme Court, in their orders have even refused to consider Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati as a saint. So his being made a member of the trust as a Shankaracharya is completely wrong,” Swaroopanand said through a communiqué.

Swaroopanand also said that as a Shankaracharya, he should have been given a place in the trust and made its head.

“A senior lawyer’s home has been registered as the office of the trust. If the head of the trust is a constitutional expert, the temple too would be made as per the constitution and not as per the Vedic dharma and its principles,” he said.

The Jyotishpeeth Shankaracharya said that during the 1990s, the duly registered Ramalaya Trust was formed with the blessings and agreement of the four Shankaracharyas at the Chatushpeeth Sammelan and it was endorsed by many dharma sammelans (religious conclaves) later on.

“Why is this existing trust being ignored?” he asked.

When contacted for his reaction, Vasudevanand Saraswati said that these efforts of the Jyotishpeeth Shankaracharya were nothing more than an eyewash.

“He has never done anything for the temple cause at the national or international level. He also had no role in the struggle for the temple construction that the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) led for years. He is simply trying to mislead the nation by talking about the other trust,” he said.

Swami Vasudevanand said that Swami Swaroopanand was talking of constructing a temple of gold in Ayodhya, but was silent on as to from where had the gold come or would come.