Ayodhya: Ahead of the ‘bhumi pujan’ ceremony on August 5, Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been sent to home quarantine after his assistant Pradeep Das tested positive for Covid-19 three days back.
Acharya Satyendra Das, said, “As one of my assistants, Pradeep Das, tested Covid positive on July 30, the trust has asked me not to enter Ram temple premises for three days. I will not be performing ‘bhumi pujan’ as other priests have been engaged for that ceremony.”
The Trust members declined to comment on the development.
Earlier, 16 policemen on duty at Ayodhya had also also tested positive for COVID-19 three days back.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has invited PM Modi to lay the foundation stone of the temple. Besides the PM, about 200 guests have been invited but around 50 are expected to attend the event. Most of them are likely to attend the event via video conferencing.
Apart from PM Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Nritya Gopal Das, chief of Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas are also likely to attend the ceremony.
Last Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath had visited the Ram Janmabhoomi complex to review preparations for the August 5 event. Today as well he is visiting Ayodhya to check on the preparations.
