Jai Shree Ram! Ayodhya's Ram Temple gets massive donations despite allegations of scam

The donation box kept in the Ram temple complex is receiving huge donations in form of cash, bank cheques, drafts, gold and silver ornaments almost every day. Between the 5th and the 10th of every month, the trust and bank officials calculate the donations received by the temple trust.

NEW DELHI: The Ram temple which is being constructed in the ancient holy town of Ayodhya under the supervision of the Supreme Court-mandated Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has been receiving massive donations despite the latest row over the land purchase.

According to the temple trust, devotees of Lord Ram are donating with a free hand for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Whether it is Ramlala's bank account or the donation box kept inside the Ram temple complex or Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust's office, the devotees are offering donations openly everywhere.

It may be noted that the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is currently facing allegations of irregularities in the purchase of land for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Three major political parties - Congress, Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and AAP – have accused the Ram Mandir Trust of alleged financial irregularities in land purchase. AAP's Sanjay Singh and SP leader Pawan Pandey had claimed that the trust bought the land for over Rs 18 crore from people who purchased it for just Rs 2 crore.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the deal betrayed the faith of the devotees who had donated money for the construction of the Ram temple. However, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust has rubbished the allegations of a land scam levelled by opposition leaders.

The trust’s general secretary Champat Rai said that the organisation is committed to full transparency and has purchased the land at a cheaper price compared to the market rate. Rai said that the trust is working to give a grand shape to the Ram Temple premises and make it comfortable for visitors keeping in mind Vastu Shastra. He said that the trust is purchasing land on the east and west side after agreement from the land/temple owners.

“Teerth Kshetra has decided to rehabilitate each organisation/individual being displaced due to the process. Even the rehabilitation land is being selected as per the consent of the affected people,” said Rai.

Reacting to the land deal in question, he said that 1.2 hectare Bagh Bijesi land in Ayodhya was purchased in a transparent manner after the consent of important temples like Kaushalya Sadan.

Amid all this, the trust claimed that the recent allegations levelled by the opposition leaders have had no bearing on the donations received by the temple trust. After the recent unlocking of the lockdown, thousands of devotees are reaching Ayodhya every day and offering prayers to the deity in the Ram temple complex here.

The donation box kept in the temple is receiving huge donations in form of cash, bank cheques, drafts, gold and silver ornaments almost every day. Between the 5th and the 10th of every month, the trust and bank officials calculate the donations received by the trust.

The donation box received about Rs 40 lakh this month. The Ram temple Trust office built on Ram Janmabhoomi Darshan Marg also received donations of about 20 to 30 lakh rupees. In the past three days, then the trust received a cash donation of Rs 2.38 lakh on Friday, 95 thousand cash donations on Saturday, and a check of 5 lakh.

On Sunday, donations of Rs 1 lakh cash and 50 thousand in check were received by the office of the Ra temple trust. Interestingly, this donation has been received during the 8 hours of the ‘darshan’ period as the Ramlala temple complex opens for the devotees in two different shifts. 

In the first shift, Darshan is allowed from 7 am to 11 am, while in the second shift, devotees can come for darshan between 2 pm to 6 pm. Besides this, the trust has allowed the devotees to attend the Ramlala Aarti at 6.30 pm. For this, they need to take a pass from the trust office.

Ram temple trust office administrator Sriprakash Gupta said that even after the lockdown, there has been no decline in donations. Donors are donating freely through cheque, draft, cash, online in all possible ways, he added.

“The public has full faith in the Ram temple trust and they are assured that it is working in a transparent manner. Those who are making allegations are political people,’’ he said.

Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had informed in March this year that it has collected over Rs 2,100 crore for the construction of a grand Ram temple in the ancient holy city of Ayodhya after the 44-day fund-raising campaign.

A recent report quoting Trust General Secretary Champat Rai said that a whopping Rs 5457 crore have so far been deposited into the vaults of three bank accounts for Lord Ram while the donations collected during 44-day Nidhi Samarpan Ahbiyan are still being counted.

Rai said that so far they have tabulated Rs 5457.94 crores which have been deposited in the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Banks.