Sai Baba idols have been removed from 14 temples in Varanasi. The idols were either immersed in the Ganga or taken to Sai Baba's temples. Sanatan Rakshak Dal has just listed 100 more temples.
The state president of the party says that the Sanatan temple should have Sanatan deities. At the same time, the Samajwadi Party said – they are spoiling the atmosphere.
Three days ago Sai Baba's idol was removed from the city's most prominent Bada Ganesh temple and immersed in the Ganga. The idol has also been removed from the Purushottam temple. Apart from this, idols are kept wrapped in white clothes in many temples.
This campaign was started by Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati. Now Sanatan Rakshak Dal is conducting campaign.
Statue removed from Bada Ganesh temple
The idol was removed from the Bada Ganesh temple. After removing the statue, a piece of it fell on the street. The local people have expressed their displeasure over this.
Bhaskar spoke to the elders living near the Bada Ganesh temple. He said – Today we saw that the idol of Sai Baba was removed from here. If there was any objection to the idol in the Sanatan Mandir it should not have been installed, if installed it would have been respectfully removed.
Their pieces are not fit to be thrown in the streets like this. However, the fragments are not of a statue, but of a throne. Another elder said – It is wrong to remove idols after installing them in this way.
Sai Baba's idol was removed from Trimbakeshwar temple today i.e. Tuesday morning.
A large number of Sanatan Rakshak Dal members reached the Bada Ganesh temple in Lohatia on Sunday. This is a historical temple, which is thronged by thousands of devotees every day.
A 5 feet idol of Sai was also installed in the temple premises. Members of the Sanatan Rakshak Dal took Sai's idol from here, wrapped it in a cloth and immersed it in the Ganga.
The idol of Sai installed in some temples of the city is kept wrapped in a cloth.
Protest against removal of idols, read first-
SP MLC said- how long dispute over temple-mosque
Graduate MLC and SP leader Ashutosh Sinha said – Banaras is the center of faith. Now-a-days new things are being heard. Even before this there was continuous worship. I am not commenting on any religion or god. Why it is necessary to do this is not understood. Today the main problem of Banaras is sewage and water. There is no debate on Ganga pollution. More than 50 temples were demolished here in the name of development. This was not discussed. How long such temples, mosques, God and Sai Baba will be debated. Education, progress of Banaras and employment should be discussed.
The priest said – due to lack of knowledge, worship continued Mahant Rammu Guru of Bada Ganesh Temple said – Sai was being worshiped due to lack of knowledge. Their worship is forbidden according to the scriptures. The statue was voluntarily removed after receiving information. Mahant Shankar Puri of Annapurna Temple said – There is no description of worshiping Sai anywhere in the scriptures. So now the idol installed in the temple is being removed.
Sanatan Rakshak Dal members reached the Bada Ganesh temple to remove Sai's idol.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
