Yatra's timing against Hindu traditions: priest

The chief priest of the makeshift temple in Ayodhya, Acharya Satendra Das, accused the VHP of going against established Hindu traditions while deciding the timing of its yatra which was symbolically inaugurated by the saffron outfit today.
"Lord Rama had halted his yatra for this period of 'chaturmaas' when he was looking for Sita in the jungles as taking any such yatra during this time is against Hindu traditions.
"The VHP has selected this very period which is against the tenets of religion," Acharya Satyendra Das told PTI by telephone.
"As the yatra does not have religious sanctity, sadhus and saints who are devotees of Lord Rama did not come out to take part in it," he said.

"The yatra is not a religious one but a mass contact programme for Ram temple construction," the priest said.
Alleging the VHP's yatra was politically-motivated, he said saints were being used for vested interests.
"VHP leader Ashok Singhal met SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav but what transpired between them is still a mystery," he said.
Amid massive crackdown by the UP administration, the VHP today symbolically inaugurated its yatra in Ayodhya.