K’taka govt orders Muzrai temples to perform special pooja on Jan 22
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Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka has instructed temples in the state to conduct a special pooja on January 22, to mark the idol installation ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple scheduled to be held on the same day.
Karnataka Endowment (Muzrai) Minister Ramalinga Reddy has issued directives for Muzrai temples across the state to perform Maha Mangalarati (special poojas) on the day between 12.29 pm and 1.32 pm.
“I have instructed that special pooja be conducted in all Muzrai temples of the state on January 22, when the idol of Lord Rama will be installed in Ayodhya Ram Mandir,” the Minister posted on X on Saturday.
The Congress high command had earlier, given the green signal to the party members, who are willing to attend the opening ceremony of the Ram temple.
According to the sources, Congress President Mallikarujun Kharge indicated that the invite to him and Sonia Gandhi came considering their position in Parliament as Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) and Chairperson of the Congress parliamentary board, respectively.
Kharge said that the party had no diktat for the leaders and that anybody who wanted to offer prayers at the temple was free to go, sources said.
Congress said that it was necessary to counter BJP's 'politicisation' of the inauguration ceremony of the Ram Mandir as top party leaders led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the event.
The Ram Mandir is being built on the site of the Babri Masjid that was demolished by Kar Sevaks of Hindu majoritarian outfits on December 6, 1992. The demolition, which occurred as a result of a concerted Ram Janmabhoomi movement, triggered communal riots lasting months, resulting in over 2,000 deaths.
The Babri Masjid has been a disputed site since 1885, as religious leaders and Hindutva groups claim it as Ram Janambhoomi, the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.
A legal battle began in 1950 when Gopal Visharad Sharma approached Faizabad district court and sought the right to worship idols of Ram Lalla, placed there in 1949.
On September 30, 2010, the High Court, in a 2:1 majority, ruled a three-way division of the disputed area between the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
Nine years later, in 2019, the Supreme Court granted the entire 2.77 acres of disputed land to deity Ram Lalla and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to allot five acres of land to Muslims for building a mosque.
Though the Supreme Court referred to the mosque's demolition as "an egregious violation of the rule of law," the verdict was criticised for accepting the logic of "faith over fact" and granting legal possession of land to those responsible for the demolition.
