The Congress on Friday asked why there was no outrage on four shankaracharyas – pontiffs of major Hindu shrines – not attending the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya.
The shankaracharyas head four shrines called peeths situated in Joshimath in Uttarakhand, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha and Sringeri in Karnataka. The shrines were founded by eighth-century religious scholar Adi Shankaracharya.
In a video posted on his official X handle on January 9, Joshimath shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said that none of the four pontiffs will be in Ayodhya on January 22 as the consecration was being done before the construction of the temple was completed.
Besides the shankaracharyas, political parties such as the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have declined the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has criticised the Congress for not attending the event, alleging that not participating in the construction reflects its “own thinking”.
On Friday, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked why there was no outrage on the disrespect that was meted out to the four pontiffs by the supporters of the BJP who claim to be staunch Hindus.
“Is this not hurting religious sentiments,” Shrinate asked on Friday. “Politicising matters that concern religious practices, rituals is always wrong. We are not going to attend an event that is being conducted under the presence of Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.”
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Shrinate said that the party does not want to be a part of disgusting politics that is being done over a religious event. She added that it is because of this politicisation of the Ram temple that the four pontiffs have also refused to attend the event.
Congress leader Pawan Khera asked why the Ram temple trust going ahead with the consecration when the temple was still under construction.
“There are rules and regulations for the consecration of any temple, there are religious scriptures,” Khera said at the press conference. “Shankaracharya of all four peeths have clearly said that an incomplete temple cannot be consecrated. In such a situation, if this program is not religious, then this program is political.”
He added that the Opposition will not tolerate that workers of a political party act as middlemen between an individual and God in a political programme.
The heads of the Puri and Joshimath shrines said that they will not attend the inauguration because religious scriptures were not being adhered to at the event.
“It is the duty of shankaracharyas to ensure that religious scriptures are properly followed,” Avimukteshwaranand had said on Tuesday. “The scriptures are being undermined by carrying out consecration before the construction of the temple is complete. There is no reason for this rush.”
Earlier, on January 4, the shankaracharya of the Puri shrine, Nischalananda Saraswati, had told reporters that he would skip the consecration ceremony as he was “conscious of the dignity of his position”.
“[Prime Minister Narendra] Modi will inaugurate the temple, he will touch the idol, then what am I supposed to do? Stand and clap?” the seer can be heard saying in a video that has been widely circulated on social media.
The Ram temple is being built on the site of the razed Babri mosque. The Babri mosque was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the deity Ram had been born.
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