First Ayodhya Temple Trust Meeting Underway in Delhi!!

Carved stones at the Ram Janmabhomi Nyas-run workshop at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya.
The first meeting of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, a trust formed by the government for building the temple, is underway at the residence of Supreme Court lawyer K Parasaran, head of the Board of Trustees.


Fixing the date for the beginning of the Ram temple's construction and appointment of two trustees is on the agenda of the meeting.
PM Modi had announced the formation of the 15-member trust in Parliament on 5 February. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has seven members, five nominated members and three trustees. The trust was formed in adherence to the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute in November 2019.

 A wall of bricks bearing 'Shri Ram' chants seen at the Ram Janmabhomi Nyas-run workshop at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya .
Senior lawyer Parasaran has been named the head of the Trust and its other members include Jagatguru Shankracharya, Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj from Allahabad, Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj, Pejawar Math in Udupi, Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj from Haridwar, Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj from Pune and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra from Ayodhya.

BJP member Kameshwar Chaupal, a Dalit member of the trust, laid the foundation for the temple during 'shilanyas' in 1989. The Modi government had earlier announced that at least one person on the 15-member trust will be a Dalit.

Rifts Form As Trust Make-Up Irks Seers

A day after the Central government announced the composition of the 'Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teertha Kshetra' trust set up for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a rift between the Hindu seers associated with the Janmabhoomi movement has come to the fore.

The exclusion of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the chief of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas - a trust formed by the Vishva Hindu Parishad in January 1993 soon after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992 - has ruffled feathers within the VHP.

Das' designated successor and senior member of the Nyas, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das said Gopal Das, had probably not been included in the newly formed trust since he and VHP vice president Champat Rai are accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.