Ram temple: VHP collects soil from Gorakhnath for groundbreaking ceremony

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday collected soil from the Gorakhnath temple for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, a VHP leader said here.

"The sacred soil of the Gorakhnath temple will be put in the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. We have taken the soil," Durgesh Tripathi, Sah Prant Sanyojak of the VHP, said.

The 'bhumi pujan' or groundbreaking ceremony for the temple is slated for August 5.

He said VHP's Mahanagar convener Ashok Gupta has been given the responsibility of appealing to people to do 'bhajan kirtan' on August 3 and 4 and light earthen candles on August 5 at their homes.

Mahant Avaidyanath, who was the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple, played a leading role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and founded the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mukti Yagna Samiti(committee of sacrifice to liberate Ram's birthplace) in 1984.

He was also linked to the Hindu Mahasabha and later represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency four times as a Bharatiya Janata Party MP.

Avaidyanath, who also the guru of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, died in 2014.