'I Was Told Don't Object as Elections are Near': Joshimath Shankaracharya

Joshimath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who came into the limelight for his decision to not attend the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, in an exclusive interview with Outlook, says that the religious scriptures are not being followed. He also accuses the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust secretary, Champat Rai, of dividing Hindu society in the name of sects. Excerpts:

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Why did you decide to not attend the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir?

The post of Shankaracharya comes with some duties and responsibilities. On the one hand, we are bound to support any legitimate effort of Sanatanis, and on the other, we must stop if anything irreligious is happening. As we found that the Pran Pratistha of lord Ram is happening in a religiously non-conducive environment, we had to come out in front of the media to share our thoughts.

As per Hindu scriptures, we don’t think of Pran Pratistha only when we have the land; we rather think of laying the stone. After that, we consider building walls and the dome. Then only, we start thinking of Pran Pratistha. When the temple is itself incomplete, how can they do Pran Pratistha? According to our scriptures, the temple is the body of God. The spire of the temple is the eyes and the dome is the head. Neither the eyes nor the head is ready. How can you do the rituals in the sanctum sanctorum?

The person responsible for fixing the auspicious moment, in his response, compared it to an apartment where the foundation of the ground floor is considered to be enough for settlement. But it is your residential home, and the rituals of a temple are definitely different. The scripture also says that disobeying this path can harm the people who are connected to it. And here the whole country is invested in it. So, it will definitely affect the prosperity of the country.