Only two K’taka seers to attend bhumi puja : VHP (Ld)

Bengaluru, Aug 4 (IANS) Among the six seers invited from Karnataka for the Ram Temple foundation stone-laying ceremony on Wednesday in Ayodhya, only two will be attending the event, said a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) official on Tuesday.

“Six seers from Karnataka have been invited by the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the bhumi puja (foundation stone laying ceremony) but only two are expected to attend,” VHP Organising Secretary Basavaraja told IANS.

The invited seers include Nirmananda Swamy from Adi Chinchingiri Mutt, Shivratreshvara Swamy of Suttur Mutt in Mysuru, Veerendra Hegde from Dharmasthala, Vidhushekara Bharat Swamy from Shringeri Mutt, Basava Madhara Chennaiah Swamy of Madharachennaya Peetha from Chitradurga and Vishwa Prasanna from Pejavarmatt.

Though Basavaraj said five people have been invited from the southern state earlier, he clarified that in total six people have been invited.

Of these six invitees, Basava Madara Chennaiah has already left for Ayodhya while Nirmananda Swamy just reached the Temple town in Uttar Pradesh.

However, according to Basavaraj, two seers are observing Charturmasa, from Pejavarmutt and Shringerimutt, forcing them not to attend the puja in Ayodhya.

Incidentally, Vishwa Prasanna from Pejavarmutt is also a member of the Sri Ram Janmabhumi Teerthakshetra Trust.

“Due to the coronavirus, Shivratreshvara Swamy from Suttur Mutt is not attending. Virendra Hegde is also not attending the bhumi puja because of some prior commitments,” said Basavaraj.

Sri Ram Janmabhumi Teerthakshetra Trust General Secretary Champath Roy has invited Basavara Madara Chennaiah.

The seer was scheduled to fly to Lucknow from Bengaluru on Tuesday at 4:00 pm, to later reach Ayodhya by road.

Reacting to it, the seer said he would participate in Ram Mandir foundation stone ceremony. “I am happy that I am representing Chitradurga. Ram Mandir trust members invited me through phone call.”

On the limited number of seers attending the bhumi puja, Basavaraja said many people could not be invited because of the Covid pandemic.

Had Coronavirus not been there, he said many people would have attended the ceremony.

Already, soil and water samples from multiple religious places from the state have been sent to Ayodhya. Basavaraja said water samples from important rivers in the state are also being sent.

“For the unity of the nation, we are sending holy water and soil samples to Ayodhya. Water from important rivers is also being sent,” he added.

The other major Karnataka connection with the Ram Temple is the bhumi puja Muhuart or auspicious time.

N. R. Vijayeendra Sharma from Belagavi had proposed the August 5 muhurat which was chosen as the right time to lay the foundation stone.

Sharma is the ‘Kulapati’ or head of Vidya Vihar Vidyalaya located near the railway overbridge in the northwestern town of Karnataka.

He proposed three more muhurats – July 29, 9 a.m., July 31, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and post 10 a.m. on August 3.

Meanwhile, some unknown people have made threat calls to Sharma but he did not wish to talk much about it and considers it a passed phase.

–IANS

sth/sdr/