Ram Temple To Have No Chief Priest Now, Announces Trust After Acharya Satyendra Das' Death

Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple will not appoint a new chief priest following the death of Acharya Satyendra Das due to the lack of a suitable candidate, the Trust said.

The chief priest of Ayodhya Ram Temple, Acharya Satyendra Das died on February 12, 2025 in Lucknow.

Source : PTI

Ayodhya's Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple will have no chief priest now, said Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Secretay, Champat Rai. He made the remark in response to a question on the appointment of a new Chief Priest after the demise of Acharya Satyendra Das.

Rai said that there will be no Chief Priest now as there is no one of Das's age and respect, adding no one is as learned as him.

"We had asked Acharya Satyendra Das 6 months ago; there won't be any chief priest now. There is no one of Satyendra Das's age and respect; no one else has been Hanumangarhi's Mahant for so long," Rai said on Sunday.

" He had been serving since 1993. He used to take Rs. 100 as his monthly salary. Now, everyone is young and new; no one is as learned as him. Now, addressing anyone as the Chief Priest would be an exaggeration...," he added.

#WATCH | Ayodhya: Regarding the appointment of a new Chief Priest after the demise of the Acharya Satyendra Das, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, Champat Rai says, "We had asked Acharya Satyendra Das 6 months ago; there is not be any chief priest now.… pic.twitter.com/yXuQHchDcr

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2025

Who Was Acharya Satyendra Das?

Das was a Hindu mahant and the chief priest of the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. He had been the chief priest of the Ram Temple even before the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

He was among the first Hindu priests to condemn the petition seeking to ban the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh.

Acharya Satyendra Das was considered among the most accessible seers of Ayodhya and was often approached by media persons for insights on Ayodhya and developments related to the Ram temple.

He died on February 12 this year at the Sanjay Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) Lucknow at the age of 83. He had been admitted to the hospital on February 3 after he suffered a brain stroke.

"Satyendra Das ji, chief Priest of Ram Mandir Ayodhya, breathed his last today. He was admitted to HDU (High Dependency Unit) of the Neurology ward on February 3 with a stroke in critical condition," the hospital said.