175 invitees including 135 saints to attend Ram temple foundation ceremony: Champat Rai
Aug 03, 2020
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 3 : Invitations have been sent to 175 people, including 135 saints of 35 religious organisations, to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Ram Temple on August 5, said Champat Rai, general secretary of Sri Ramjanmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust on Monday.
"We have sent invitations to 145 people including 135 saints of about 36 religious organisations of India in this event. We have also invited Iqbal Ansari (former litigant in Ayodhya land dispute case) and Padma Shri Mohammed Sharif (who does cremation of unclaimed dead bodies according to their religion) to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony," Rai said while addressing a press conference here.
Rai said that all invitees will be in Ayodhya by tomorrow evening.
"Many people have arrived, including VHP leader Dinesh Chand, mahants from 'akhadas' in Haridwar. All invitees will be here by tomorrow evening. RSS' Mohan Bhagwat and Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi among many others are expected to come," he said.
Rai also said that it is "unfathomable" that some people were "influenced by green clothes or fear of Prime Minister".
"Some people are so perturbed by PM that they see him in their dreams and lose sleep over him. They are linking Lord Ram's green clothes to PM. It is unfathomable if they were influenced by green clothes or fear of PM," Rai said.
"It is not a matter pertaining to PMO, CM or the Trust. The priest has been deciding the colour of clothes as per the day. It is fixed. He does not make changes under anyone's influence," he added.
Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of the makeshift temple on Sunday had stated that the idol of Ram Lalla will dress as per the day's significance.
"For Monday, it would be white clothes, for Tuesday it would be red clothes and for Wednesday it would be green clothes. We have also kept an option of yellow and saffron clothes," he had said.
The Sri Ramjanmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was formed by the government for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in line with the Supreme Court's ruling on November 9 last year.
A five-judge Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and said the entire disputed land spread over 2.7 acres will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of a Ram Temple at the site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5.
The construction of Ram temple will begin in Ayodhya after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone in which various dignitaries from the political and religious field are likely to participate.