Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth in Uttarakhand, recently said that all four shankaracharyas, pontiffs of major Hindu shrines, will not participate in the January 22 inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
In a video posted on his official handle on X, he stated that the ceremony is being conducted 'against the shastras', the sacred Hindu scriptures, as the temple construction is still incomplete.
His remarks comes days after the Shankaracharya of the Govardhana Peeth in Puri announced that he will not go for the consecration of Lord Ram's idol at the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Nischalanand had said that he will not attend the consecration ceremony "just for clapping", as Prime Minister Modi will perform the consecration ceremony.
The consecration ceremony at the Ram temple will be organised in Ayodhya on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are among the invitees, along with thousands of seers from all over India. The 'pran pratishtha' ceremony is anticipated to attract over a lakh devotees to the temple town.
On Wednesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury "respectfully declined" the invitation to attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony with the grand old party accusing the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of making it into a "political project" for electoral gain.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the BJP was indulging in a "gimmick show" through the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The TMC supremo asserted that "she does not support festivities that exclude other communities".
Addressing a public programme at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district, Banerjee said she does not believe in dividing masses on religious lines, news agency PTI reported.
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