Seers to catalyse crowd-funding of Ayodhya's Ram temple

LUCKNOW: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the Ram Temple, the Ayodhya Sant Samiti toyed with the idea of reaching out to seers across the country, asking them to send out an appeal for funding construction of a grand temple in next few years. Speaking to TOI, president of Ayodhya Sant Samiti, Mahant Kanhaiyya Das said, a formal decision to reach out to people through seers would be decided soon.
“But, people across India would have to come forward to finance the temple construction,” he said.
Mahant Das said, the samiti would soon be convening a meeting to decide its course of action. “Funds have to be drawn from Ram Bhakts. There will be no government role in financing the project,” he said.
Sources said, the Ayodhya Sant Samiti would act as a catalyst in mobilising seers to convince people to donate.
This comes close on heels of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) plans to coordinate with Ram Janmabhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust in crowd-funding the project. BJP national general secretary, Milind Parande told TOI the trust is authorised to collect funds.
“But VHP would also throw its weight behind the trust in mobilising people,” he said.
Parande said, VHP is expected to announce its plan of coordinating with the trust in next two or three months. “Our cadre is ready to launch a nationwide movement,” he said. The right-wing outfit is planning to reach out to more than 3 lakh villages and 7,000 cities in the country to raise funds for the temple.
VHP sources said, the plan was prepared after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Ram Temple. It was in fact, VHP functionaries, who collected soil and water from more than 3,000 places for construction.
The VHP leader, who was in Ayodhya to attend a meeting of organisation functionaries, said the idea was to expedite construction of the temple.
“We hope the structure would be ready in next two to three years and Ram Lalla would be placed in the sanctum sanctorum,” he said.