On ‘incomplete Ram Mandir’ jibe, Ayodhya priest invokes Somnath temple's ‘pran pratishtha’
One of the four Shankaracharyas reportedly said it would not be right to perform a consecration ceremony at this stage as the Ram Temple is yet to be completed.
An Ayodhya priest on Monday accused “some people” of spreading “misleading” information about the pran pratishtha (consecration ceremony) at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, ANI reported.
The opposition parties have been targeting the BJP over reports of respective Shankaracharyas of Shri Shringeri Sharda Peeth Karnataka, Dwarka Sharda Peeth in Gujarat, Jyotir Peeth in Uttarakhand and Govardhan Peeth in Odisha deciding not to attend the consecration ceremony.
Jyotirpeeth Sankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati had reportedly said it would not be right to perform a consecration ceremony at this stage as the construction is yet to be completed.
On Monday, Shashikant Das Maharaj, the president of Saryu Maha Aarti in Ayodhya said that some people are spreading “very misleading things” about the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.
“Some people are spreading very misleading things about the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony... I want to tell you that at the time the 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Somnath temple took place, the 'sanctum sanctorum' and 'Shikhar' of the temple were not completed,” he said, according to ANI.
Maharaj further said that today' God's 'sanctum sanctorum' and 'Shikhar' are ready in the Ram Temple of Ayodhya. "... So if PM Modi had not been there, this temple would not have been built today..."
The ‘pran pratishtha’ of Somnath temple in Gujarat was held in 1951.
Who are four Shankaracharyas and what are they saying about the Ram Temple inauguration?
Shankaracharyas are the supreme authority of the Hindu scriptures and there are four Shankaracharyas -- in Uttarakhand, Odisha, Karnataka and Gujarat. All four of them reportedly said they would be skipping the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple.
This triggered a huge controversy as the Congress based their excuse to decline the invitation around the Shankaracharya's explanation that the temple was not complete.
Shankaracharya of Puri Gowardhanpeeth, Swami Nishchalanand Saraswati, refused the invitation saying that the event already got a political colour as PM Modi will be performing the ceremony.
Also Read | 'Pran pratishtha without head, eye': Shankaracharya explains why Ram Temple incomplete
Shankaracharya Bharati Teerth of Karnataka and Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati of Gujarat will also stay away from the event.
Shankaracharya Karnataka, however, said he never expressed displeasure over the pran pratishtha ceremony.
Gujarat's Dwarka Sharada Peetham has also said that the reports published in some newspapers regarding the mutt's stand on Ram Temple has been published without the permission of Jagadguru Shankaracharya and are misleading.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad said two of the four Shankarachareyas have openly welcomed the consecration ceremony but they would not be able to attend the grand event -- they will visit later at their convenience.
Ayodhya's Ram Temple ceremony
The grand consecration ceremony of Ram temple will be held on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will also share the dais with several other dignitaries.
More than 7,000 people have been invited to the ceremony by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust.
