On 15th January (Monday), the President of Saryu Maha Aarti in Ayodhya, Shashikant Das Maharaj asserted that the claims being made that the Pran Pratishtha ceremony should not be done at ‘incomplete Ram Mandir’ are ‘misleading’. He stressed that some people are spreading “very misleading things” about the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony which is slated next week on 22nd January at 12:20 PM.
Rejecting the claims, he explained by giving the example of Pran Pratishtha at the Somnath Mandir adding that when the consecration ceremony was performed, the temple was not complete and it was under construction. Notably, the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ and ‘Shikhar’ of the temple were not completed at the time when then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad performed the rituals at the revered holy shrine. The Pran Pratishtha at Somnath Mandir in Gujarat was held in 1951.
The president of Saryu Maha Aarti Shashikant Das Maharaj said, “Some people are spreading very misleading things about the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony… I want to tell you that at the time the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of the Somnath temple took place, the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ and ‘Shikhar’ of the temple were not completed.”
#WATCH | Shashikant Das Maharaj, President, Saryu Maha Aarti, Ayodhya says, "Some people are spreading very misleading things about the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony… I want to tell you that at the time the 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Somnath temple took place, the 'sanctum… pic.twitter.com/QkUxHqzNKA
— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2024
The Ayodhya Priest noted that in the present case, the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ for the Vigrhaya of Ram Lalla and ‘Shikhar’ are ready in the Ram Temple of Ayodhya.
He added, “.. So if PM Modi had not been there, this temple would not have been built today…”
The 1951 Hindu article details about the Somnath Mandir Pran Pratishtha
Former Chairperson and Editor of The Hindu Group Malini Parthasarathy on 14th January shared the old article of The Hindu. The article gave a detailed description of the events and rituals performed during the Somnath Mandir Pran Pratishtha including the fact that the temple was under construction, which according to the report could have taken several years even a decade to complete.
Reports @the_hindu of May 12, 1951 bring out the striking parallel of a secular authority, namely Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India performing the sacred Pran Pratishta ceremony in the partially reconstructed Somnath temple amidst great fanfare.
— Malini Parthasarathy (@MaliniP) January 14, 2024
Clearly a… pic.twitter.com/knFASmbjV2
Along with the news article, Malini tweeted, “Reports of The Hindu of May 12, 1951 bring out the striking parallel of a secular authority, namely Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India performing the sacred Pran Pratishta ceremony in the partially reconstructed Somnath temple amidst great fanfare. Clearly, a precedent has been set in independent India’s beginning, of a representative of a secular nation performing a religious ritual. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not transgressing any tradition by conducting the Pran Pratishta ceremony at Ayodhya.”
The opposition cited reports of Shankaracharyas’ purported objection over Pran Pratishtha in ‘incomplete Ram Mandir’
Evidently, the Congress party used purported reports that the Shankaracharyas have maintained that the Pran Pratishtha can’t be done in an ‘incomplete temple’ as an excuse to find faults in the event.
However, it is important to note that only Jyotirpeeth Sankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati had reportedly stated that it would not be right to perform a consecration ceremony for Ram Lalla at this stage as the construction is yet to be completed.
Shankaracharyas are the supreme authority of the Hindu scriptures and there are four Shankaracharyas — in Uttarakhand, Odisha, Karnataka, and Gujarat. All four of them have reportedly said that they would be skipping the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple.
Strikingly, two Shankracharyas have openly rejected reports that they have expressed any displeasure or objections over the historic event adding that they are misleading.
OpIndia had earlier reported that Shankaracharyas of Dwarka and Sringeri Maths had extended their blessings for Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha and asked devotees to participate while refuting claims of opposing the event.
Additionally, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has also asserted that two of the four Shankarachareyas have openly welcomed the consecration ceremony noting that they would not be able to attend the grand event and they will visit later at their convenience.
