As the investigation into the alleged donation scam linked to the Ayodhya Ram Temple continues, former Union Home Secretary S. Lakshminarayanan has raised concerns over the disappearance of a gold-plated Ramcharitmanas worth nearly ₹5 crore that he and his wife had donated to the temple in April 2024.

Lakshminarayanan reportedly said that the manuscript, which was initially displayed for devotees and worshipped daily, was removed after around five months without any explanation from the temple authorities. He said repeated attempts to seek clarification have not yielded satisfactory answers.

Lakshminarayanan calls the manuscript lifelong devotion to Lord Ram

Calling the manuscript the culmination of his family's lifelong devotion to Lord Ram, Lakshminarayanan said it was inspired by his late mother's years of writing the name of Lord Ram. He added that his family had been associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement for decades and that donating the manuscript was his way of dedicating his post-retirement earnings to the deity.

About Ramcharitmanas:

The donated Ramcharitmanas, valued between ₹4.5 crore and ₹5 crore, weighs around 147 kg and is crafted using gold, silver and copper.

It contains 522 gold-plated pages featuring all 10,902 verses of Goswami Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas.

He alleged that the temple trust initially assured him the manuscript would be kept near the sanctum sanctorum before later informing him it would be placed elsewhere. According to him, even those assurances were not fulfilled after it was removed from display.

He said public concern over the alleged donation scam prompted people to ask whether his offering was safe, leading him to approach the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, senior state officials and members of the temple administration.

His primary demand, he said, has been an independent audit to verify that all donated offerings are properly accounted for.

The former bureaucrat also said he raised the issue with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat after being advised by RSS functionaries. According to Lakshminarayanan, Bhagwat assured him that he would help, but he claimed that no progress has been made despite repeated follow-ups.

Describing the alleged donation scam as "completely avoidable," Lakshminarayanan said there had been a failure of supervision by those entrusted with managing the temple. Referring to the reported exit of Ram Temple Trust General Secretary Champat Rai, he said accountability becomes necessary when such incidents occur under someone's watch.

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