Artefacts at temple site validate faith, claim Ayodhya saints

The ‘unearthing’ of ancient religious artefacts from the Ram temple site in Ayodhya is being seen as a ‘validation of the faith of millions of Hindus who believe that Ram was born here’ by the saints in Ayodhya.

Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of the Ram temple, said, “The recovery of these items should be a lesson for those who had been denying that the mosque was built after demolishing the temple.”

Mahant Raju Das of the Hanuman Garhi temple said that the idols and artefacts found during the levelling of the temple site further underlined the court verdict which accepted that the temple existed here. “There should be no room for any doubt now,” he added.

Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, another senior saint, said, “The recovery of artefacts — all of which are Hindu symbols — leave no room for doubt and reaffirm the court verdict. All the items that have been found should be kept in a museum so that the new generation can see for themselves.”

Former BJP MP and seer Ram Vilas Vedanti said that all the artefacts show Hindu symbols like lotus which proves the existence of a temple.

The remains of the ancient temples, including a five-foot Shivalinga, seven pillars of black touchstone, six pillars of red sandstone, structures of flowers and broken idols of deities were found at the site where levelling of land is underway.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust that has been set up to oversee the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, tweeted on Thursday that several broken statues of Hindu gods and goddesses have been found at the temple site where levelling operations are underway.

Trust general secretary Champat Rai said that the recovery of these further established the fact that temple existed at the site.

Champat Rai said that three JCBs, one crane, two tractors and 10 labourers were involved in the levelling of the temple site and work restarted on May 11 after the state government allowed construction activity to resume in the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Zafaryab Jilani, senior lawyer and convenor of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) has contested the claim of the temple Trust general secretary Champat Rai.

Jilani, who had represented the Muslim side in the litigation related to the Ayodhya issue in Supreme Court, said that it was not necessary that the remains found at the site were related to some temple. “The pillars found there could be of the mosque demolished in 1992,” he said.

Jilani dubbed the claims of remains found at the Ram Janambhoomi site as a ‘political gimmick’ by the trust office bearers to influence the upcoming Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh elections.

A. K. Singh, Director, State Archaeological Department, refused to comment on the emergence of remains.

He said that he had come to know about the findings through media reports and was not in a position to comment on the authenticity of the artefacts unless he saw them himself.

He said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the state Archaeological Department would take cognizance of the findings and take them over to study their origin and age if asked to do so.

Meanwhile, the work of stone carving for temple has been suspended for the time being. “The old stones are being cleaned up for fixing in the proposed temple and we will increase the strength of artisans once the lockdown is lifted,” said a VHP leader.-PTI news