Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has kicked up a row over Ram Mandir amid the marathon Lok Sabha elections.
Patole said that if the Opposition INDIA bloc wins the general election, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be purified by the shankaracharyas.
Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi acted against protocol in the construction of the temple, Patole said it would be rectified if the Opposition comes to power in Delhi next month.
“This is not what I am saying… The four Shankaracharyas said that proper rituals were not followed and were opposing this (pran pratishtha)… What we are saying is that we will do it according to what the Shankaracharyas said. In our Sanatan dharma, we shave our head when someone in the family dies but Narendra Modi didn’t do it,” the Congress leader said.
“All four Shankaracharyas will purify the Ram Temple. Ram Darbar will be established in that place. It is not Lord Ram’s idol there, but the child form of Ram Lalla,” the Congress leader said.
A 51-inch Ram Lalla idol, sculpted by Mysuru’s Arun Yogiraj and showing Ram as a five-year-old, was established in the temple ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony.
“Narendra Modi has acted against protocol in the Ram Temple construction. We will do it through rectification and religion,” he added.
The Shankaracharyas, who head the four major Hindu mutts, stayed away from the Ram temple pran pratishtha ceremony.
