Water, soil from sacred spots in Tamil Nadu sent to Ayodhya

CHENNAI: Water and soil from sacred places in Tamil Nadu associated with the ancient epic Ramayana is being couriered to Ayodhya for the foundation stone laying ceremony to be held on August 5.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some special invitees are expected to participate in the event. Since the schedule was fixed, VHP and other Hindu organisations have been collecting water and sand from different parts of Tamil Nadu.
There are several temples in Tamil Nadu that have main deities as Rama or Krishna or Lord Vishnu.“We collected water from the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean at Kanyakumari. Along with the water, we collected three types of sand too,” said VHP member Murugan from Kanyakumari. “A special puja was held at the Bhagavathi temple and the offerings (prasadam) was sent along with the water and sand to Ayodhya,” said Murugan.
He said soil and water from various parts of the country are being sent to Ayodhya. “We were told that the soil and water would be poured onto the foundation. But for the lockdown, we would have congregated at Ayodhya in large numbers,” added Murugan.
Other branches of VHP, RSS and individuals are collecting sand and water from holy places. “Sacred water and soil from Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi have been sent to Ayodhya,” said S V Raman of VHP.
“At Rameswaram, soil was collected from the sea (Agni Theertham). According to the legend, Lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of a lingam at this island on his return with Sita from Sri Lanka after vanquishing Ravana. The famous Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram is dedicated to Lord Shiva,” said Raman.
Some priests, functionaries of Hindu Munnani and locals gathered sand from the sea, held special pujas, packed it in a gold-plated box and sent it to Ayodhya to be used in the construction of the Ram temple.
Raman said the association is also sending offerings from Srirangam as it is one of the very sacred temples in the country for Lord Vishnu. “We collected water from River Cauvery and soil from Ayothiapattinam in Salem district and Denkanikottai near Hosur,” said Raman.