‘The date was December 6, 1992. Karsevaks had demolished 2 domes of Babri Masjid. I was guarding Ramlala under the big dome in the middle. Angry kar sevaks also climbed this dome and started breaking it. There was a big hole in the middle of the dome. Ramlala’s coming from above
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‘We decided that Ramlala will have to leave from here. I ran carrying the idols of Lord Ramlala, Bharat and Shatrughan. Santosh Laxman ji and Chandrabhushan ran with the clothes and ornaments of the Lord. Within no time the kar sevaks demolished the structure. By then we had brought our Lord safely.
Ramlala’s chief priest Satyendra Das becomes emotional while narrating this 32 year old story. Satyendra Das has been taking care of Ramlala since 1992. He takes care of everything from God’s food to clothes, puja-aarti and toys.
After the consecration of Ram Lalla on January 22, 2024, the responsibilities of the priests here have also increased. Now 6 year old child Ram is also with Ramlala. Therefore, now the duty time of priests has increased from 8 to 10 hours. As the work increased, the salary also increased accordingly.
More than 3 crore people have come for darshan within a year after the consecration of life in the Ram temple of Ayodhya. In view of the increasing crowd, the darshan time has also been extended.
On the completion of one year of the consecration of Ram temple, programs are being organized in Ayodhya on 11, 12 and 13 January. On this occasion, Dainik Bhaskar talked to the servants and priests of Lord Ram. Know about his life. Amidst all this the priests told us many interesting stories.
First of all let us know the priests of Ramlala…
Priest Satyendra Das has been serving Ramlala for 33 years. In Ayodhya we reached Hanuman Garhi via Rampath. This is the path leading to Digambar and Nirmohi Akharas. In a narrow street is the house of Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Ram temple. When he went inside, he found priest Satyendra Das sitting at the door among more than 100 monkeys. They were feeding boiled gram to the monkeys.
This is a picture of the house of Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Ram temple. He organizes monkey feast every day for the last 20 years.
87 year old Satyendra Das is not from Ayodhya. He was born in Sant Kabirnagar, UP. Ram came to Janmabhoomi for the first time in 1949 with his father Abhiram Das. After 9 years i.e. in 1958, he started living in Ayodhya. He completed his studies from here and decided to remain a monk throughout his life.
Satyendra Das says, ‘When my father came to know that I wanted to become a monk, he was happy. He accepted my decision. In 1975, I took the degree of Acharya from Sanskrit Vidyalaya. In 1976, I got the job of assistant teacher in Sanskrit Degree College. At that time my salary was Rs 75.
Satyendra Das further explains, ‘After becoming the chief priest in the Ram temple, everything went well for 9 months. When Babri was demolished on December 6, 1992, I was in the temple premises. It was 12 noon. BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sadhvi Ritambhara and Uma Bharti were sitting along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad President Ashok Singhal on the stage near the temple. Many local leaders were also with him.
This is a picture taken in 1992 of the same stage from where announcements for Karseva were made. In the picture is VHP President Ashok Singhal with priest Satyendra Das.
‘An announcement was made on the loudspeaker of the stage – A grand platform has been built for Ramlala. All the kar sevaks should bring water and sand from Saryu. After this the washing of the platform will begin. Most of the kar sevaks gathered at the birthplace that day were youth. He did not like this.
‘Karsevaks said- We have not come here to wash the platform. We will not do this. Saying this, the kar sevaks raised slogans of Jai Shri Ram and broke the barricading. The Karsevaks reached the disputed structure and started breaking the dome.
Do not go to temple for worship due to old age Considering the age of Chief Priest Satyendra Das, it is not necessary for him to come to the temple regularly and perform puja. Ram Mandir Trust has given them relief to take care of their health and visit the temple accordingly. Although there has been no official announcement of his retirement.
Priest: Santosh Tiwari saved the statue of Laxman on the day of demolition of Babri. After Chief Priest Satyendra Das, the responsibility of looking after Ramlala is taken over by Priest Santosh Tiwari. There are many things in common between the two priests. Both were appointed on March 1, 1992. Both the saints are residents of Kabirnagar. Priest Santosh had also witnessed the incident of demolition of Babri. They came out of the disputed structure after saving the idol of Lord Lakshman.
Priest Santosh tells us this story. It is said, ‘Before the disputed structure collapsed, all of us priests ran away from there with God. Satyendra Das ji had idols of Lord Ramlala, Bharat and Shatrughan. I ran away with the idols of Lord Lakshman.
‘While running away, the idol of Lakshman ji fell on the ground. Without wasting any time, I picked up the idol and came out and kept it in the Sangh office. That day it felt for the first time that today our Jai Siya Ram will come to an end. As soon as we all came out of the temple premises, 5 to 10 minutes later the kar sevaks also demolished the big dome where Ram Lalla was seated.
More than 10 priests have changed in Ram temple in 32 years, but Santosh and Satyendra are still serving Ramlala. Priest Santosh’s house is near Vibhishan Kund in Ayodhya. He lives there with his wife Subhashini and 3 sons. Considering the experience, after the retirement of Satyendra Das, Santosh will take over the job of the chief priest.
Routine of temple and priests changed after consecration At present there are 15 priests to serve Ramlala in Ram temple. Satyendra Das was the chief priest, but now he visits the temple less. Therefore, all the work from offering to the Lord till Aarti is done by 4 assistant priests. Recently, after training, 10 new students have been included in the team of priests of Ram Temple. These students help the older priests.
Priest Santosh says, ‘The first thing in the morning is Mangala Aarti of the Lord at 4:30 in the morning. For this I have to reach the temple at 4 in the morning. This is the time when the Lord is sleeping. To avoid waking up, one has to enter the temple quietly. The Lord’s seat has to be cleaned without lighting the lights and without making any sound.
Priest Santosh further explains, ‘They bathe him with lukewarm water like a small child. Then they make up and sit on the seat in front of the heater. Now child Ram ji is also standing with Ramlala. Standing near his seat, the priest bathes him. They are also made up after wearing clean clothes.
‘Shringar Aarti is performed at 6:30 in the morning by offering Khurchan Peda to Ramlala. After this the temple remains open till 12 noon for Bhog Aarti and general darshan. The Lord rests from 12 to 1:30, hence the temple remains closed at this time.
‘The doors of the sanctum sanctorum are opened again from 1:30 pm. Evening Aarti takes place at 7 pm. Then Shayan Aarti is performed at 9 pm before Ramlala sleeps. The temple is closed at 9:30 pm.
Priests’ duty increased from 13 to 16 hours in one year Priests are on duty in the temple in two shifts from 4 am to 9:30 pm. Meanwhile, there are 5 aartis of Ramlala. In this, 7 priests are on duty in the morning and 7 in the evening. This duty changes every 15 days. The morning and evening shift priests perform the morning aartis.
Within a year after Pran Pratistha, more than 3 crore people came to visit Ram temple. In view of the increasing crowd of people, the darshan time has also been extended. Therefore the duty of the priests has increased from 13 to 16 hours.
New Dress Code: On 27 December 2024, Ram Mandir Trust implemented a new dress code for priests. Now the priests wear yellow chaubandhi, dhoti-kurta and a yellow turban on their head.
Under the new system, priests are prohibited from using mobile phones inside the temple. Apart from this, they will not apply Tilak-Chandan to any devotee. At present, any priest has been prohibited from talking to the media. The priests whose videos have been used in this news were interviewed before the implementation of these rules.
Now let’s talk about the remaining 3 priests Apart from priests Satyendra Das and Santosh Tiwari, there are 3 more priests of Ramlala. These include Prem Chandra Tripathi of Basti district, Ashok Upadhyay of Gonda and Pradeep Das of Sant Kabirnagar. In view of the new rules of the Trust, the three priests refused to give us official byte.
Know about the remaining three priests…
Till now you have learned about the 5 priests of Ramlala. Let us know their selection process further…
Earlier the High Court used to decide the priest, now it is the responsibility of the Trust. Ram temple belongs to Ramanand sect. Ramanand means one who worships Ram. In the Hindu tradition there are Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Smarta, Vedic and Chavarka sects. Vaishnav sect are worshipers of Lord Vishnu.
The sub-sect of Vaishnav sect is ‘Shri’ sect. It is divided into two parts Ramanand and Ramanuja. People of Ramanand sect worship Lord Ram and Sita. Students who have taken initiation from this sect can become priests of Ram temple.
From 1992 till the Ram Mandir decision, priests were appointed by High Court judges. After this, on 5 February 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Trust in the Lok Sabha. Since then the trust appoints priests in the temple. The Trust takes care that only those priests are kept who are associated with the Ramanand sect.
Dr. Anil Mishra, trustee of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, says, ’18 to 20 more temples are being built inside the Ram temple complex. The darshan time has also increased from 14 to 16 hours. Considering this, we will need more priests in future. We want such priests to be prepared for the Ram temple, who can serve Ramlala after proper training.
Those who pass a tough 4-day test become the priests of Ramlala. It is not so easy to become the priest of Ramlala. Students from all over the country appear for the 4-day examination for the post of priest. After passing several stages, they are sent for training in the worship method of Ram temple. Even after the selection, there are such strict rules that some students leave the process midway, only those who are successful in it get the post of priest in the temple.
This picture is from the time when after training the new priests were made permanent for temple service. Then he also got new mobiles.
The form for the examination for the post of priest is released on the website of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Trust. In 2022-23, 3000 students of the country had filled the form. Of these, 257 were selected. Only 24 out of 257 students were left till the last phase of the selection process. Last year, out of these 24 students, 3 left the selection process themselves. At present, the remaining 10 students have been put on duty in Ram temple after training. , Read, what will be the arrangements and programs for darshan-puja in Ayodhya in the next 3 days…
First anniversary of Ramlala Pran Pratistha, 5 lakh devotees will come
Ayodhya is ready to celebrate the first anniversary of the consecration of Ram Lalla. Festivities will take place from 11 to 13 January. There will be no VIP darshan in these 3 days. The temple trust has installed German hangar tents at Angad Tila. 5 thousand guests will be hosted, out of which 110 will be VIP guests. According to the Trust, 5 lakh people are expected to come. Read what will happen in Ayodhya when…
