The famous Ayodhya temples reopened today after more than two months of coronavirus lockdown.
Ayodhya:
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers this morning at Gorakhnath Temple in the eastern Uttar Pradesh city of Gorakhpur where he is the chief priest, possibly sending a signal as places were opened across the state despite an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
But the focus was on the city of Ayodhya temple, where construction of the Ram temple was delayed by more than two months due to the closure to control the pandemic. The start of construction is crucial for the BJP as it anticipates the Assembly elections in UP in two years.
There was no social distancing this morning, as the trust created to oversee the construction of the temple opened a camp office right next to the Ram Janmabhoomi site after a number of religious rituals.
Anuj Jha, the most senior government official in Ayodhya and a trusted member of Ram Janmabhoomi on the government side, told GalacticGaming that no date has yet been set for the foundation stone for the temple, which was previously to take place in April with Prime Minister Narendra Modi present. Mr. Jha did not attend the morning ceremony at the trust camp office.
“During the lockdown, following all the guidelines, some things were done for the preparatory phase like land leveling. But beyond that, I think we still have to hear the dates. I hope to hear about the dates, but I must clarify the discourse of the directives on the setting of a date for the restarting of social or religious functions so that as soon as we have these dates, things will be able to advance, “said Mr. Jha.
In the other famous temples of Ayodhya like the Hanuman Gadhi temple, there was just a net of visitors on the first day of reopening. The temple generally sees thousands of steps on a normal day.
“We want people to stay inside, especially the elderly and children. We opened up to meet the locals who visited the temple as part of their daily routine. We do not expect visitors from the outside, “said Mahant Raju Das. , chief priest at the temple.
In November 2019, the Supreme Court decided that the disputed land in Ayodhya would be entrusted to a government-managed trust for the construction of a temple for Lord Ram and that Muslims would receive “suitable” five-acre land elsewhere in the district. .
The historic verdict in this case – which has had a religious and political critical point on the country for decades – was unanimously adopted by the constitutional bench with five judges amid calls for peace by leaders political and religious and strengthening security across the country.
