Temple work must start by Ram Navami: VHP

Mangaluru: With the

Hindu new year

starting on March 25, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is gearing up to celebrate

Ramotsav

that spans a week from April 2 (Ramnavami) and ending on April 8 (Hanuman Jayanti), in a grand manner across the country. With hurdles for construction of the

Ram Temple

at Ayodhya being overcome, some work of constructing the grand temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram will commence during this period.

Expressing this desire of the parishad, Alok Kumar, working president of VHP, told reporters on Sunday, on the final day of deliberations of central board of trustees, that the parishad urges Hindu society around the world to celebrate Ramotsav collectively in every temple and village. “There will be big celebrations in all those villages across India from where consecrated ‘Sri Ram Shilas’ (bricks) were sent to Ayodhya at the height of the temple movement,” he said.

Asserting that constructing a Sri Ram Temple will not just be a mere physical activity, Alok Kumar said it is also a spiritual, cultural and religious movement for the Hindu community. The VHP will take up three major programmes across India in time it expects the temple construction to be over around 2024/2025, he said. These include working towards establishing a harmonious society by eradicating caste and other discriminations, he noted.