'Lord Rama Himself Did Prana Prathishta Without Temple': Sri Sri Ravishankar On Shankaracharya Row

The Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar said that there are many instances of temples being built after the 'prana pratishtha' of the idol.

Sri Sri Ravishankar said an ideal society is always addressed as 'Ram Raj', to state that everybody is equal, everyone has justice, everyone is happy, and prosperous. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Sri Sri Ravishankar, the Art of Living founder, on Wednesday responded to Jyotishmath Shankaracharya Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati's objection to the upcoming consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Ravishankar said that there are many instances of temples being built after the 'prana pratishtha' of the idol, news agency PTI reported.

Additionally, he emphasized that while Shankaracharyas belong to one school of thought, there are other provisions, that allow the construction of temples even after the prana pratishtha.

“There are other provisions where you can keep building the temple after the prana pratishtha. At Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Lord Rama himself did prana prathishta of a Shivalinga. That time there was no temple. He didn’t have time to build a temple. He did prana pratishta and later the temple was built,” he explained, the PTI report added.

The Art of Living founder went on to explain that both the Madurai temple and the Tirupati Balaji temple were initially small but later expanded by kings.

Justifying the need for a temple at Ayodhya, the spiritual leader said, “It's a dream coming true. For five centuries people have waited for this. It's correcting the wrong that had happened 500 years back. So there's a great sense of celebration and a lot of enthusiasm in the whole country."

He said an ideal society is always addressed as 'Ram Raj', to state that everybody is equal, everyone has justice, everyone is happy, and prosperous. The self-styled spiritual guru elaborated further, noting that some societies may be prosperous but unhappy, while others may be happy but not as prosperous.

“But Ram Raj is a society that has both happiness and prosperity. Also, there is justice and equality. That has been the dream of the people of this land for centuries -- equal opportunity for everybody,” he stated, as per the PTI report.

In his view, India is progressing in that direction as it is becoming one of the top economies of the world, leaving behind many other countries.

Speaking about the life of Lord Ram, Ravishankar said,  “Being a king, he embraced the fisherman, the boatman, and the tribal woman Shabari in the forest. So it shows the wide spectrum, the whole spectrum of unity in diversity."

He said that Lord Ram was an ideal brother, a symbol of brotherhood, compassionate, and the one who embraced everybody, the PTI report stated.