Ram Vilas Vedanti
Credit: Screen grab/X
Lucknow: Former BJP MP and one of the prominent faces of the Ram Temple movement, Ram Vilas Vedanti died following a heart attack at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa town on Monday.
An Ayodhya based seer, 77-year old Vedanti was rushed to the hospital after falling sick during a religious discourse in Rewa on Sunday, according to his disciples at his ashram in Ayodhya.
Reports said that Vedanti had reached Rewa a few days back to hold a ‘Ram Katha’ discourse. An Air Ambulance was rushed to Rewa to airlift him to Delhi but it could not land owing to dense fog.
One of the main accused in the Babri Masjid demolition cases, Vedanti was among the leaders who had spearheaded the Ram Temple movement in the 90s along with senior BJP leader L.K.Advani, Uma Bharti, former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh and others.
The mortal remains of Vedanti, a two time MP, was likely to reach Ayodhya late in the evening on Monday. Vedanti’s disciple Raghavesh Das said that Vedanti's last rites would be performed on Tuesday. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath was likely to join the funeral procession.
A disciple of Abhiram Das, the Mahant of the famous Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya, Vedanti lived in Naya Ghat locality in Ayodhya. He was a member of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.
Vedanti was known for his sermons on the Hindu epic ‘Ram Charit Manas’.
Adityanath, in his condolence message, said that Vedanti’s death was an irreparable loss to the Sanatan culture and spiritual world. Several prominent seers in Ayodhya also condoled the death of Vedanti.