A priest and 15 policemen on duty at the Ram temple site in Ayodhya, where the bhumi pujan (groundbreaking ceremony) for the temple will take place next week, have tested positive for coronavirus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the ceremony on August 5, for which Diwali-like preparations are in full swing.The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has issued an appeal to all saints across the country to perform puja in their respective temples and Maths from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm on August 5. Champat Rai, general secretary of the Trust, requested people to watch the live telecast of Bhoomi Pujan on television and light earthen lamps at home in the evening. For the ceremony on August 5, 11 priests from Varanasi and Ayodhya will perform the puja. Pradeep Das, priest who tested positive, is not part of this group of 11.
The Trust has decided to get the entire Ram Janmabhoomi campus sanitised on a daily basis.“There is nothing to worry about. One of the priests who performs daily rituals at the temple site has tested positive. The entire campus will be sanitised on a routine basis,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor designate to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the Trust.