Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma swept and cleaned the Mahabhairav Temple in Assam's Tezpur. This comes in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a nationwide 'Swachh Teerth Abhiyan' at temples ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
"On the auspicious occasion of the consecration of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji gave a call for Swachh Teerth Abhiyan. Under which we all together make religious places clean, beautiful and divine. Today, I had the great privilege of cleaning the premises of Mahabhairav Devalaya of Tezpur along with Honorable Home Minister Shri @AmitShah ji," the Assam CM said in a post on X.
The nationwide initiative of cleanliness drives at temples was launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party earlier this month and it will continue until January 22, the day of the Pran Pratishtha at the Ayodhya Ram temple. The consecration ceremony of the temple is slated to be performed on January 22. A team of priests led by Lakshami Kant Dixit will lead the rituals.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that he would be doing a special 11-day 'Anushthan' (ritual). He said he has decided to follow all the rituals rigorously despite his responsibilities and hectic schedule.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Ayodhya Police cautioned and informed the people that cybercriminals are taking advantage of people's faith and are committing fraud by sending fake QR codes to collect donations in the name of the temple.
The frauds range from collecting donations for distributing free prasad of the temple to creating VIP passes for the ceremony. Fake websites of the temple have also been made, news agency ANI reported.