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Ayodhya seers get key role in Ram temple as religious panel revamped
Trust decision aims to placate local seers who alleged they were sidelined; training school for priests to be revived, made permanent
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Wednesday took a decisive step to place the religious life of the Ram temple directly in the hands of Ayodhya’s traditional monastic community by reconstituting a new nine-member dharmik (religious) committee. The Trust also decided to revive a training institute for priests and make it permanent.
The nine-member religious committee includes five seers from Ayodhya and four members from outside.
“Therefore, it is now the responsibility of Ayodhya’s sadhus and saints to oversee all religious arrangements of this temple — the entire worship, rituals and related work. There is no ambiguity in this now,” said the Trust’s treasurer Govind Dev Giri, who will chair the religious committee.
The committee will include Shankaracharya Vasudevanand Saraswati, Swami Vishwaprasannatirth, Mahant Dinendra Das of the Nirmohi Akhara, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das of Maniram Chhavni, Mahant Rajkumar Das of Ramavallabh Kunj, Mahant Ramanand Das of Ram Katha Kunj, Swami Mithileshnandini Sharan and Swami Parmanand.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the board of trustees amid the long-standing grievance from local monastic bodies that they were being sidelined in the running of the Ram temple.
By accommodating Ayodhya’s prominent seers in the revamped Dharmik committee, the Trust has tried to placate local seers.
The committee will oversee all religious affairs of the Ram temple with a clear mandate to ensure that worship and traditions at the temple follow the Vedic Ramanandi parampara.
Announcing the decision after the meeting, Giri said the committee has been given direct responsibility for the temple’s daily rituals, festivals, training of priests and coordination with Ayodhya’s seers and mutts
“It is the rule that no matter how many committees are formed, the chairman must be a trustee. Because of this, everyone collectively assigned me the responsibility of chairing this committee,” he added.
Five-point mandate given to committee
Giri said he had placed five key points before the committee. The Samiti will not be limited to paperwork; it will do direct, on-ground work
Ensure Vedic Ramanandi worship: The first responsibility is to ensure that the daily puja at the temple is performed strictly according to Vedic Ramanandi tradition.
Fix dates and organise annual festivals: The second responsibility will be to fix dates for festivals. On several occasions Ram Navami, Sita Navami, Vivah Panchami and other festivals fall on two days. The committee will decide on which date to observe the festival and will also be responsible for planning and conducting the annual celebrations, said Giri.
Daily rituals, Vedic recitations: The third responsibility of the committee will be to hold daily religious activities. The committee will arrange Ramarcha, Vedic parayan, special yajnas on festivals and other regular rituals.
Training school for priests: Recalling that the Trust earlier ran a training centre, which produced 30 priests before the tradition was discontinued, Giri said the committee will now revive and run a permanent training school. The school will teach not just worship and mantra pronunciation, but the entire procedure and discipline of temple management.
Dialogue with Ayodhya’s mutts, seers and gurukuls: The fifth task is to establish regular dialogue and coordination with Ayodhya’s mutts, temples, seers and gurukuls.
“We are confident that now this temple will function under the supervision of Ayodhya’s sadhus and sants. It will run according to the Vedic Ramanandi tradition of Ayodhya, and their decision will be supreme,” Giri said.
Who attended Trust meeting
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the Trust, presided over the meeting on Wednesday. Besides Das, the others present at the meeting were the Trust’s interim general secretary Krishna Mohan, treasurer Govind Dev Giri, members Vishwaprasannatirth, Dinendra Das, Vasudevanand Saraswati and Swami Parmanand.
Ayodhya district magistrate Shashank Tripathi also attended the meeting in person as an ex officio member of the Trust. Sanjay Prasad, additional chief secretary (Home), UP, another ex officio member of the Trust, attended the meeting virtually.
Two other ex officio members – Ram temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Misra and additional secretary (Union ministry of culture) Prashant Lokhande – did not attend the meeting. Keshav Parasaran, a senior member of the Trust, was also not present. The next meeting of the Trust will be held on September 2.
