In a “humble” request, members of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra, which is raising donations for the temple, have asked donors to not contribute silver bricks.
According to a report in ThePrint, the request has been made because bank lockers have no space to store them. More than 400 kilograms of silver bricks have been donated so far, the report said.
“People from all across the country are sending silver bricks for use in the construction of the temple. We now have way too many silver bricks that we have to think hard about how to keep them in safe storage,” Dr Anil Mishra, a trust member, was quoted as saying.
“Therefore, the trust is now appealing to the donors not to donate silver.” Mishra said, “All our bank lockers are full (with silver)”.
“We fully respect the sentiments of Lord Ram’s devotees, but it is our humble request that they should not send any more silver bricks. We will also have to spend a lot of money to safely store them,” he said. Mishra also said if there is any further need of silver for the construction of the temple, then “we will issue an appeal”.
Trust sources, meanwhile, said they have so far received cash donations of over Rs 1,600 crore. Various groups and teams formed by the trust to run this campaign have been asked to either transfer the money to the trust account or to accept donations as cheques.
Champat Rai, the trust’s general secretary, had earlier said that 1,50,000 groups are engaged in this fund-raising campaign. The entire temple will be built within the next 39 months, he had said.
