Bengaluru: Hitting out at the critics of fundraising campaign for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya at Uttar Pradesh, Pejawar Math seer Vishwaprasanna Teertha, said on Saturday that the Trust had collected Rs 2,100 crore from across the country, but how could anyone give account of funds, even while the drive is on.
Participating in a religious function that was organised by the Rashtradharma Organisation here, the seer who is also one of the trustee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, observed that it was improper for people to question accountability of the fundraising drive even when the drive was still underway.
The Rashtradharma Organisation created a huge art work of Ram Mandir and Lord Ram being displayed in front of Lalbagh West gate at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru.
This three-day public display of the installation is organised by the outfit as part of the Nidhi Sangrahana Abhiyan for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“The art work is 30-ft high and 35-ft wide, is conceived and created by six Chitrakala Parishath students Raghu Vodeyar, Manjunath L., Fayaz, Zilal, Suyash and Puneeth using approximately 35,000 five rupee coins and 25,000 one rupee coins and these artists took 10 days to complete it.
“We have so far collected Rs 2,100 crore for temple and we are expecting that it total collection might reach up-to Rs 2,500 crore. But to give account, there is thumb rule that first entire fund collection process has to complete,” the seer said.
Answering a question on a section of leaders terming the fundraising drive as loot, he retorted that loot is when someone steals money donated to temples and not when money is collected for a noble cause of temple construction.
Rubbishing former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegations that houses, where money was not donated, were marked in some parts of the state, the seer said that on some occasions when the fund collection team found their receipt books exhausted, where there were people calling them to donate money, their houses were marked as a reminder that the fund needs to be collected from there.
“If some people want to create controversy out of nothing, what can anyone do about it. One can easily find a solution through discussion issues openly but solutions will not emerge for arguments for sake of arguments,” he quipped.
The main designer of this huge art, Raghu Wodeyar, told reporters that the main idea behind this art is to show how people have come together across the country to build Lord Rama temple. “Coins depict our country’s people and their contributions in this art. While art itself is explanatory, that it is meant for Ram Mandir,” he explained.
Whereas Rashtra Dharma Organisation treasurer, Santosh said that this was a dream come true. “When we formed our organisation during the Ram Mandir movement, we never thought that we would realise our dream so soon. We thought it was a long drawn battle. But I think at last we are releasing it,” he said.
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