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No takers for shilas in Ayodhya

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

The shilas donated by Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans on March 15 to Shatrughan Singh, head of the Ayodhya cell in the Prime Minister's Office, do not seem to have any takers in Ayodhya.

While the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has virtually washed its hands off the shilas, other prominent temples of Ayodhya are also wary of accepting the controversial pillars.

With the Supreme Court banning any kind of religious activity on the 67.7 acres of acquired land, Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans was forced to settle for a compromise solution and perform part of the shila puja at Digambar Akhara, the religious institution headed by him.

The remaining part of the puja was carried out by him in another temple, Bara Sthan, close to the outer boundary of the acquired land.

The chief priest of Bara Sthan, Mahant Devendra Prasad Acharya, is miffed over the puja being performed in the temple without his permission and in his absence.

"The shilas were kept here during my absence from Ayodhya and without my permission. I just want the shilas out of my premises," Mahant Acharya told rediff.com.

Acharya even saw a VHP 'design' in keeping the shilas in Bara Sthan.

"Knowing VHP leaders for a long time I would not be surprised if the shilas were kept with the sole objective of grabbing our property," he said.

He threatened to proceed on an indefinite fast if the shilas were not removed.

Declaring that he had convened a meeting of local saints of Ayodhya on the issue, he said, "If the saints agree, I would not hesitate to even dump these shilas into the gutter."

Mahant Ramdas, the chief priest of Ayodhya's oldest temple, Hanuman Garhi, had already disapproved of the manner in which the whole ritual of shila daan was performed.

"The way the so-called shila pujan or shila daan was carried out was meaningless as it did not conform to the procedures laid down under the Hindu scriptures," Das said in Lucknow.

Despite being one of the key trustees of the Ramjanmbhoomi Nyas, he refused to have anything to do with the shilas which, according to him, had no religious or spiritual sanctity.

Mahant Ramdas has also filed a petition against the shila daan in the Allahabad high court, as also against the manner in which the Ramjanmbhoomi Nyas is conducting its affairs.

He also questioned Paramhans and VHP chief Ashok Singhal for withdrawing 'as much as Rs 20 million out of the temple trust funds' for the March 15 event.

"Where have they have spent all that money?" he asked.

Mahant Jugal Kishore Shastri, the chief trustee of Ramalaya Trust, one of the other organisations involved in the Ram Temple movement said, "The whole exercise of March 15 was a farce."

The Bara Sthan Mahant had already written to the Faizabad district magistrate B P Misra to get the shilas removed from his premises, he said.

"I do not care where they keep it, but all I want is that they must clear the Bara Sthan of these stone slabs," he said.

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