Earth from 1500 sites, water from 100 bodies to be part of Ram Mandir

These offerings will be used during the construction of the temple

A devotee takes selfie with the pillars that will be used to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya | Reuters A devotee takes selfie with the pillars that will be used to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya | Reuters

On the call of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, earth from 1,500 significant religious and historical sites and water from 100 holy rivers and other water bodies have so far been received in Ayodhya. A few of these deliveries have been made in person while others have come through courier to the Trust office and the Karsewakpuram.

According to a release issued by Champat Rai, general secretary of the Trust, these offerings will be kept in safe custody and shall be used as per need in the construction of the Ram Mandir.

A listing of these places makes clear that the temple is to be an all encompassing homage to the many facets of the country.

Some of the sites from where these offerings have arrived are Haldighati in Rajasthan (where Maharana Pratap fought the Mughals); the Chittor Fort in Rajasthan (India’s largest fort and home to the Mewar rulers); the fort of Nanasaheb Peshwa in Bithor, UP; the Deekshabhoomi of Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Nagpur; the compound of the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the 12 jyotirlings. The water is from the Mansarovar and the holy pond at the Golden Temple, in addition to major rivers such as the Krishna, the Cauvery and the Indus among others.

The release also debunked any political association for the green garments that the idols will be dressed in on the bhoomi pujan on August 5. Every day of the week has a colour marked for the Lord’s dresses and the colour for Wednesday is green. It is the colour of festivities and happiness. It is the colour of the planet Mercury.

Invitations have been issued to 135 seers representing the 36 main sects of Hinduism. These include holy men from the Lingayats, Chinmaya Mission, Kabir Panthi, Nath, Arya Samaj, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist tradition. Seers from Nepal have also been invited. 

It also said that the Trust had ardently wished that the many devotees who had participated in the Ram Mandir movement since 1984 be part of the ceremony but the pandemic had made it impossible.