All four shankaracharyas, most important Hindu religious gurus established by the centuries-old scholar Adi Shankaracharya, have taken a unified stand against attending the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Consecration ceremony on January 22, reports said.
The heads of the four shrines (peeths)—Joshimath in Uttarakhand, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha and Sringeri in Karnataka—claimed that the inauguration event was being held against the shastras or sacred Hindu scriptures.
Earlier this week, Swami Nishchalanand Saraswati, the shankaracharya of Puri Gowardhanpeeth, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand said installing the idols of Lord Ram without completing the construction of the temple was against the Hindu religion and that there was no need for such a hurry.
They said there was enough time for the construction of the Ram Temple and then complete Pran Pratishtha.
“What will I do there? While (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji inaugurates and touches the idol, will I stand there and clap? I don’t want a position. I already have the biggest one…But what will shankaracharyas do there?” asked the Shankaracharya of Puri’s Govardhan math.
The Shankaracharyas of Dwarka and Sringeri also said they would skip the consecration ceremony.
“If maryada purushottam Ram is to be honoured, then it should be in accordance with the scriptures… I will not protest, but I will not go either… It is a matter of happiness. There should be respect and worship as per the scriptures… What will I do by going to that program?” they said.
Even the temple that is to be inaugurated in Abu Dhabi next month is first being constructed completely then the pranpratishtha of the idols is being done there. Then why not here in India? Reason must be elections as it was one of the key promises of the Modi-led BJP govt in the 2019 polls.