A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been lodged in the Allahabad High Court by Bhola Das, a resident of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The PIL seeks to prohibit the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Shri Ram Lalla at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 22, 2024.
The petition cites objections from the Shankaracharyas and argues that no religious ceremonies should be held in the month of ‘Pus’. It further states that the temple is still under construction and, according to tradition, no deity can be consecrated in an incomplete temple.
The petition also alleges that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is organizing the ceremony for political gains in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, describing the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ as an act against the Sanatana tradition.
Opposition parties have previously claimed that the Shankaracharyas had decided not to attend the event due to their objections to the ceremony being held in an ‘incomplete temple’. Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has declined the invitation to the event, stating that the Shankaracharyas’ decision to boycott the event is significant.
Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of attempting to alienate two-thirds of the country’s population from Lord Ram by politicizing the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple.
Swami Nischalanand Saraswati Maharaj, the Shankaracharya of Puri, disclosed that their decision is based on the deviation from established traditions during the installation of the Ram Lalla idol. He stated that the presence of a ‘secular’ government does not imply the obliteration of tradition.
Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya began a week before the main ceremony. The general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai, announced that the Ram temple will be open for ‘darshan’ for the general public from January 23.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated an 11-day special ritual leading up to the Pran Pratishtha of Shri Ramlala at the temple in Ayodhya.
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