Priests’ entry in Ayodhya Ram temple to be banned in case of death, birth in their family

Ayodhya (UP): In case of impurity due to birth or death in any priest’s family, entry of that particular priest in the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be completely prohibited, member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Anil Mishra said on Friday.

Priests who have completed six months of training will soon be entrusted with the responsibility of conducting rituals at the Ram temple.

According to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the new priests will have to follow the guidelines made by the religious committee of the Ram temple.

According to the guidelines, priests will conduct rituals in all the 18 temples within the complex of Ram Janmabhoomi on a rotational basis.

Anil Mishra, a member of the Ram Temple Trust, said a training programme was conducted recently for the deployment of priests at the Ram temple. A team of highly qualified individuals in Ayodhya provided six months of training to 20 priests.

Mishra said in the event of birth or death in any priest’s family, the priest will not be allowed to enter the temple. A priest’s entry in the temple is completely prohibited in a state of impurity, as he turns impure in the event of death or birth in his family, Mishra said.

Giving the details about the dress code of the priests, Mishra said from the waist down, one must wear an ‘achala’, and on the upper body a ‘chaubandi’ along with a turban or ‘safa’.

Woollen clothes in the same colour (saffron) can also be worn during the winter season. There will be a restriction on carrying mobile phones during worship, especially android phones.

Traditional basic phones can be used if necessary, Mishra said.

An idol of the new Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on January 22, a landmark event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also gave a clarion call to go beyond the grand mandir’s construction to build the foundation of a “strong, capable and divine” India of the next 1,000 years.

As the inauguration of the temple marked the culmination of a decades-long campaign, mostly under the Hindutva banner, to reclaim a disputed religious site in Ayodhya, Modi said it was the advent of a new era.

Lakhs of people watched the ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration) ceremony on television at their homes and in neighbourhood temples, savouring the historic moment just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and 34 years after BJP veteran L K Advani’s iconic ‘Mandir Wahin Banayenge ‘ speech during his rath yatra that shaped Ram mandir politics.