Abu Dhabi: The head of the upcoming Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi will attend the high-profile foundation stone laying ceremony of Ram Lalla Mandir in Ayodhya in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, community sources associated with the temple told Gulf News.
Swami Brahmavihari Das of the BAPS Hindu Mandir is among 175 select invitees joining the historic ceremony to be attended by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on land allotted by India’s Supreme Court to Hindus for the construction of the Ram temple.
Ending the dispute over the religious site that roiled the country for decades, the apex court had in November 2019 also ordered the government to give an alternate five acres of land to the Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosque instead of Babri Masjid that had been demolished in 1992 in the site believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of Rama.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is building the temple has invited 175 selected guests for the Bhumi Pujan (foundation stone laying ceremony), Indian media reported, quoting the trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai.
Brahmavihari Swami, the head of the BAPS Hindu Mandir is representing the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). He also handles international relations for BAPS, the organisation building the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.
The senior priest, who had gone to India before the COVID-19 lockdown began, flew into Ayodhya for the special ceremony in a private jet.
Supplied photos showed him along with another BAPS priest with the jet in the background after their arrival in Ayodhya.
Devotees in the UAE were elated to know about the priest’s presence at the auspicious ceremony for them.
“It is a proud moment,” said Dubai resident Sajeev Purushothaman.
“We appreciate the international community for recognising the efforts of the Indian judiciary and the government. We also sincerely thank and feel indebted to our Muslim brothers for cooperating with the temple construction as per the Supreme Court’s order,” he said.
An immediate comment was not available from the temple trust.
