Differences crop up among 'Shankaracharyas' on Ram temple consecration ceremony

Lucknow: Sharp differences have cropped up among the four 'shankaracharyas', the top proponents of Hinduism and religious heads in the country, over organising and attending the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple on January 22 with at least two of them publicly criticising the organisers and the proposed attendees, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and terming the event as ''against the tenets of Hinduism".

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Maharaj, the Shankaracharya of Badrikashram Jyotirmath, Uttarakhand, said that it was against the tenets of Hinduism to install the deity of Ram Lala in an ''incomplete temple''.

''It is not proper to install the deity in a Temple which is not yet fully complete...it is against Sanatan Dharma,'' he said.

He also asked the officials of the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Trust, which was overseeing the construction of the Ram Temple, to resign and hand over the Temple to the ''Ramanandi Sect'', as only it had the right to hold the consecration ceremony. ''If the Ram Temple belongs to the Ramanandi sect what Champat Rai (Trust secretary) and others are doing there?'' he added in a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter).

The shankaracharya also said that he was not against Modi and was his 'well wisher' and that's why he was giving the right advice.

Swami Nischalananda Sarswati, the Shankaracharya of Puri based Govardhan Peeth, also said that the consecration ceremony was not in accordance with the 'sanatan dharma'. ''If the conduct of a person, even if he occupies a respectable post, is not worth emulating then it should be opposed....this fact needs to be kept in mind with reference to Shri Ramjanmabhoomi also,'' he said in a post on 'X'.

''Modiji will inaugurate the Temple, touch the idol....what will I do"?... clap? .....my post also has some dignity....why should I go to an event which is not accordance to the religious scriptures?'' he said.

The shankaracharyas of Shringeri Mutt Swami Bharati Teerth and the Shankaracharya of Gujarat based Dwarika Peeth Swami Sadananda Sarswati, however, extended full support to the consecration ceremony and said that it was a matter of joy for the followers of the sanatan dharma.

They also termed as 'incorrect' the reports appearing in a section of the press that they were against the consecration ceremony. The two however remained silent on whether they would be attending the event.

The Shankaracharyas are considered to be among the most influential philosophers in Hinduism. They have large followings and command great respect among the saints and seers in the country. 

BJP leaders here refused to comment on the issue and said that everyone was welcome to attend the consecration ceremony.