Bengaluru: It’s a matter of great pleasure that a cave-dwelling sadhu, an octogenarian, donated a sum of Rs 1 crore towards the construction of Ram Mandir. 

As he visited a bank in Rishikesh and handed over the cheque, the employees were bewildered. There upon, they even verified his bank account and were stunned to see the account not running short of the money. 

Immediately, functionaries of the RSS were called to assist the bank manager. As they arrived, they took stock of the situation. 

Rishikesh head of RSS Sudama Singhal told TOI, “We reached the bank after receiving information about Swami Shankar Das seeking to donate Rs 1 crore to the Ram Mandir trust. As he could not donate the money directly, he handed over a cheque to us and we gave him a receipt. Using the cheque, the bank manager will now submit the money in the trust’s account.”

Reports further add that he did not want his donations to be advertised but countenanced later as the authorities convinced him that he would be a role model for others as the matter would inspire others to follow suit.

Donations for Ram Mandir:   

The Ram Mandir trust, which takes care of the fund collection, is carrying out its activity with full zeal. 

The estimated cost of the temple is Rs 1100 crore. 

The drive, which began on Sankranti day – January 14 – will go on till the last week of February. 

People all over the country – from the President to transgenders – have been donating wilfully to the construction of the temple. 

It was in August 2019 that the Supreme Court decreed the land in favour of Hindus after which Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the bhumi pujan on August 5 last year. 

The temple is expected to see the light of day in a time period of 40 months.