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As Ram Temple inauguration in Ayodhya nears, offertory to Ram Lalla on the rise
The offertory to Ram Lalla at the makeshift Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has increased significantly ahead of the temple's grand opening ceremony on January 22, 2022. The collection in September was ₹60 lakh, ₹4 lakh more than in August. The Trust is now using cash counting machines to handle the increased donations, which include daily contributions of around ₹2 lakh and monthly donations of over ₹one crore. Donations from NRIs are also being received, with a devotee from UAE donating ₹11,000 and another from Australia donating ₹21,000.
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Ahead of the grand opening ceremony of the Ayodhya temple scheduled on January 22 next year, the ‘chadawa (offertory) by devotees to Ram Lalla at makeshift Ram Mandir has increased manifold.
The construction work of first phase of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is nearing completion. “After construction work of Ram Mandir began (on August 5, 2020) offerings to Ram Lalla every month used to be between ₹10 lakh to ₹15 lakh,” said Prakash Gupta, incharge of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust’s office, Ayodhya.
The Ram Temple Trust counted ₹60 lakh from Ram Mandir’s ‘daan patra (collection box)’ in September which was offered to Ram Lalla by devotees visiting the temple. This was ₹4 lakh more over the collections in August.
The Trust used to count the collection manually. Now, it is not possible for them to manually count the offertory to Ram Lalla. The Trust has started using cash counting machines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will preside over the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22 next year.
“Earlier, counting of offertory used to take place on fifth and 20th day of each month. Now, this work is being done daily,” said Gupta.
Apart from donations at Ram Mandir, the Trust is also getting daily donations from devotees through various modes, including online, cheque and cash which is around ₹two lakh per day.
According to an estimate, the Trust is getting monthly donation of more than ₹one crore.
The Trust has also started receiving donations from NRIs at its bank account in New Delhi.
According to the Trust, a devotee from UAE has donated ₹11000 and another devotee from Australia has donated ₹21000.
“As the bank account for receiving donations from foreign countries is in New Delhi exact information about the collection is not available,” said Gupta. Last month the Union Home Ministry had registered the Trust under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The Trust has started receiving donations from foreign countries at its State Bank of India bank account at 11 Sansad Marg, New Delhi.
According to general secretary of the Trust, Champat Rai, the Trust has ₹3500 crore in its three bank accounts in Ayodhya which was collected through donations from across the country till February this year.
It may be pointed out that the 44-day nationwide fund collection campaign of the Trust “Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan” was launched on January 15, 2021.
