Will lay foundation stone of Ram Temple on Feb 21: Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati

Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati on Monday said the foundation stone of Ram Temple will be laid in Ayodhya on February 21.

"On February 17, we will head towards Ayodhya from Prayagraj and on February 21, we will lay the foundation stone of Ram Temple," Shankaracharya Swaroopanand told ANI.

Earlier today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the Ayodhya Ram temple issue should be resolved within 24 hours.

Adityanath speaking in the state Assembly said, "Ayodhya is well known in India and across the world due to Lord Ram and not due to a foreign invader like Babur. The beliefs of people should be respected. I have said several times that the court should respect the sentiments of the people. The Allahabad High Court had specifically said that wherever 'Ram Lalla' is present, the temple will be built there."

"I believe that the dispute should have ended then and there. There is no question regarding division (of land). The dispute exists only whether or not there is 'Ram Janambhoomi'. That dispute has already been decided upon and so now it should not take more than 24 hours to find a solution," he added.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute has been pending before the apex court for the last eight years. For a long time, parties in the case and various right-wing organisations have been asking for an early or day-to-day hearing in the matter.

On February 6, a conglomerate of saints claimed that the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will start on February 21.

Swami Swaroopanand earlier said that the 'dharam sansad', after a three-day meeting in Prayagraj, decided that foundation stone for the temple will be laid on February 21. He added that the saints mobilised for the effort would not be deterred by arrests or any other kind of obstacles.

The decision came after the central government last month approached the Supreme Court for permission to restore the "excess" land surrounding the disputed portion in Ayodhya to Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.

The government, in a petition, sought direction for releasing to the Nyas 67 acres, which it had acquired about two-and-a-half decades back, leaving untouched 0.313 acres of disputed.

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court had divided the disputed land in Ayodhya into three parts for each of the parties - the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.