No receipt, no acknowledgment against gold-plated Ramcharitmanas donated to Sri Ram Temple, Ayodhya; Retired IAS official moves UP CM

Amid reports about irregularities and mishandling of funds of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, Ayodhya, a retired senior IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre who had served at sensitive postings moved the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh and the Commissioner of Police, Lucknow alleging that he has not been provided with any receipt or acknowledgment against a donation of a gold-plated holy Granth Ramcharitmanas worth crores of rupees made by him and his wife to the temple trust.

Reports about irregularities and mishandling of funds of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, Ayodhya have left him and donors for the temple cause crestfallen.

According to the letter, the Ramcharitmanas Granth donated by the official has shlokas laser-inscribed on specially prepared copper sheets measuring 16” x 12” inches each which were electroplated with 24-carat pure gold to maintain their divine shine and sanctity for more than a hundred years and weighs about one quintal. It was worth over Rs 5 crore.

The retired bureaucrat has sought verification and proper recording of the said holy Sri Ramcharitmanas Granth in their auditing and official records as reports about mishandling and thefts from the temple trust have come out in the media. He said the Ramcharitmanas was initially placed near the entrance, just outside the sanctum sanctorum of the Rama Lalla Temple, and daily puja was being duly performed there. However, it was subsequently shifted to a storeroom under CRPF security. Upon inquiring, he was informed that certain other donors had also requested the display of their donated items, and consequently the Granth was relocated.

The retired official pleaded that “our sole desire, while maintaining complete anonymity as donors, was that the millions of devotees visiting Ayodhya to pay homage to Lord Sri Sita Ram may also receive blessings from the holy Granth of Sri Ramcharitmanas made in gold. The donation had been made from a substantial part of his savings, he claimed.

He sought the intervention of the UP CM and other top officials to include the examination, documentation, verification, and proper recording of the holy Granth of Sri Ramcharitmanas donated by him and his wife in the ongoing SIT probe into the allegations of misappropriation in temple funds.