Union Minister and Telangana BJP chief G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday participated in a cleanliness drive at Sri Kanaka Durga Sri Nagalaxmi temple at Basheer Bagh, Hyderabad. He appealed to people to take part in ‘Swachh Abhiyan’ at different temples ahead of Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha.
“I appeal to people to take part in ‘Swachh Abhiyan’ at different temples ahead of Ram temple inauguration. I also urge people to light ‘Ram jyoti’ and take part in other programs,” Kishan Reddy told reporters here.
Swachhata Abhiyan takes new momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted people for conducting a cleanliness drive at religious places as part of the campaign . His appeal came ahead of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya on January 22.
The campaign, which will continue till the temple ceremony, has been taken forward by ministers in several states.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Wednesday participated in a cleanliness drive at Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, in Tiruchirappalli.
The governor said that for thousands of years temples have been the centre of his life.
“Whenever a village is built, first a temple is built and the village develops around it. It has been the centre of gravity of our entire life. Because of a long period of subjugation and colonisation, this sense was weakened. Today the entire country is ‘Ramamay’. This coming of Sri Ram’s temple at Ayodhya, the whole country is celebrating… It is the responsibility of the people to keep the temple clean and maintain it… It should be a part of their regular rituals,” he told reporters.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur and Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva also on Wednesday participated in a cleanliness drive at Valmiki Temple, Delhi.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleaned the premises of the Kalaram Temple in Maharashtra’s Nashik as part of the Swachchata Abhiyan campaign. Visuals showed the Prime Minister with a mop and bucket mopping the floor of the temple.
Delivering his inaugural address at the 27th National Youth Festival in Nashik, the Prime Minister reiterated his call for cleanliness campaigns, urging citizens to clean pilgrimage places and temples across the country on ‘Pran Pratishtha’ day of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. (ANI)
