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Monday, April 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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Board mooted for Ram Tirath temple
Tribune News Service

A view of the ancient Ram Tirath temple, 15 km from Amritsar. — Photo Rajiv Sharma

Amritsar, April 27
The Ram Tirath Mandir Development Board (RTMDB) may be set up under the control of the state government through an enactment of the state legislature on the lines of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board, as suggested by Mr Jagmohan, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture.

The Shri Ram Tirath complex is a holy place on the Amritsar-Chogawan road, where Valmiki Maharaj composed Ramayana. The temple site is also the place of birth of Luv and Kush, sons of Lord Rama when Sita spent some time there.

The previous board was constituted in 1982 and was named Shri Ram Tirath Improvement and Development Committee for the development of the ancient temple. The old committee comprised Congress Member of Parliament R.L. Bhatia, four MLAs and other members. However, the administration here felt that the old committee was not functioning properly.

The Deputy Commissioner-cum-Project Director, Golden Temple Beautification Project, Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, in a communication to Ms Romilla Dubey, Principal Secretary, Punjab Tourism, said keeping in view the historical importance of the holy place, face-lifting of the temple be done at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore. The administration proposes to replace the damaged/wornout sandstone pathway in Parkarma at a cost of Rs 72 lakh, illumination of the temple (Rs 16 lakh), installation of two deep tubewells for drinking water and filling of holy sarovar (Rs 20 lakh), construction of concrete parking (Rs 29 lakh), construction of four toilet blocks (Rs 27 lakh) and improvement of the existing periphery road at a cost of Rs 40 lakh.

“A large number of mahants are staying inside the holy parkarma and they are creating trouble for the managing committee by way of raising the income individually from the donation amounts. Thus the managing committee raises income only by way of auctioning various sites at the time of the annual fair of Ram Tirath, which is not sufficient for carrying out developmental activities”.

The communication of the Deputy Commissioner reads that during the visit of Mr Jagmohan to the holy city on April 9, it was felt necessary to take over the control and management of this Tirath through a board on the lines of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for providing facilities to the devotees. The Union Minister had suggested that the Governor of Punjab should be the chairman of the re-constituted board or trust of the Ram Tirath temple. Mr Jagmohan had promised to provide necessary help for the development of the temple to bring it on the map of world heritage tourism.

Mr Sidhu urged the state government to take steps and re-constitute the proposed board. He said the district administration would supply the necessary data for proper functioning and take effective measures to avoid any litigation with the mahants and sevadars.