'Ram Lala' priests too feel the pinch of inflation

Money matters

‘Ram Lala’ (the deity at the makeshift temple at the Ram Janambhoomi complex at Ayodhya) is also feeling the pinch of rising prices and the priests are finding it difficult to carry out the daily rituals with the officially sanctioned budget.

The chief priest of the makeshift temple Mahant Satyendra Das has asked the authorities to increase the monthly budget for carrying out the rituals.



In a letter to the Faizabad commissioner, who is also the administrator of the makeshift temple, Das has said that he was finding it difficult to perform ‘artis’ and ‘pujas’ with the money provided for the temple.

The makeshift temple is given about Rs 15,000 per month as maintenance amount to carry out the daily rituals, which included ‘bhog’ (offering of milk, curd and other things).

“Bhog is offered thrice in the temple and the deity is offered peda (a sweet) twice daily,” the priest pointed out in his letter.

“All the items of bhog are prepared with desi ghee, which is also used in the artis,” Das went on to add.

“Prices of all these things have risen manifold during the past few months making it very difficult for us to perform the puja...the prices of flowers have also increased,” he said.

Das also asked the commissioner to increase the salaries of the staff at the makeshift temple. Currently the chief priest gets Rs 5000 a month while the other staff members including the other priests get between Rs 2000-3000.

The monthly collection at the makeshift temple through donations is around Rs 1.5 lakh. The maintenance amount is paid from this money only, the priests said.