This information was shared by the Ram temple trust officials on Saturday.

Ram Temple Donations: The newly constructed Ayodhya Ram Mandir has received substantial donations in a month since the Pran Pratishtha/Consecration Ceremony was held on January 22. These donations include 25 kg of gold and silver ornaments worth about Rs 25 crore. This information was shared by the Ram temple trust officials on Saturday.

Elaborating further, Prakash Gupta, the office in charge of the Ram Temple trust said the amount of Rs 25 crore includes cheques, drafts, and cash deposited in the temple trust’s office along with those deposited in the donation boxes.

“However, we are not aware of the online transactions done directly in the trust’s bank accounts,” he said adding that a total of around 60 lakh devotees have had darshan since January 23.

“The devotion of Ram devotees is such that they are donating items made of silver and gold for Ram Lalla which cannot be used in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple, despite this, considering the devotion of the devotees, Ram Mandir Trust is accepting jewellery, utensils, and materials made of gold and silver,” he said.

The temple trust is expecting an increase in donations during the days of Ram Navami festival when about 50 lakh devotees will be present in Ayodhya, said Gupta adding that the State Bank of India (SBI) has installed four automatic high-tech counting machines at Ram Janmabhoomi to control the heavy inflow of cash and expected offering during the Ram Navami.

“A dozen computerised counters have been made by the Trust to issue receipts and additional donation boxes are being kept at the temple premises by the Ram temple trust. Soon a big and well equipped counting room will be constructed at Ram temple premises,” he said.

Anil Mishra, a trustee of the Ram temple trust said that for the valuation of gold and silver jewellery and precious materials received as gifts to Ram Lalla, their melting and maintenance has been handed over to the Government of India Mint.

Mishra said along with this, an MoU has been signed between the SBI and the Trust according to which the SBI will take full responsibility for the collection of donations, offerings, cheques, drafts, and cash and deposit it in the bank as he further said that a team of the SBI started its work by increasing the staff and counting of donated cash is being done in two shifts daily.

Meanwhile, a leading hotel management consultancy has projected that Ayodhya, which is expected to receive 10.61 crore tourists annually by 2031 due to the Ram Mandir boost, will “require an inventory of 8,500–12,500 branded keys in the medium to long term to cater to this demand.”

(With PTI inputs)