VHP Plans To Install Lord Ram Idols In 2.75 Lakh Villages That Donated Bricks During Ram Temple Movement

In a bid to revive the fervour over the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will visit the 2.75 lakh villages that had contributed bricks for the temple during the height of Ram temple movement in the nineties.

VHP leaders have asked their cadres to go back to these villages and ask its residents to install an idol of Lord Ram in their households as a mark of their contribution towards the temple.

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said: "The exercise is scheduled to begin from 25 March (which happens to the New Year as per the Hindu calendar) and continue till Ram Navami on 8 April."

The VHP's move comes less than two months after the Supreme Court gave the disputed site in Ayodhya for construction of Ram temple while directing the Centre to form a trust for the purpose.

According to the VHP leader, the period of the movement would be observed as a "Ramotsav", which would be celebrated on a grand scale this time. Our cadres will fan out in 2.75 lakh villages and reach out to every Hindu household, which had once contributed a brick and Re 1.25 at the peak of the Ram temple movement."

Bansal said the temple is associated with faith of scores of Hindus and should thus be constructed with donations. "We expect to generate funds from the public once again like we did in 1989," he said.

He said that the VHP will organise functions in small and big temples, while helping the poor and needy at the same time.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)