Indian police are investigating the theft of donations given by devotees at the famous Ram Mandir, a case that has again raised questions about transparency in the management of the huge sums of money and gold at religious sites. Police began the investigation last June and have so far arrested eight people over the theft of donations from the Hindu temple in Ayodhya. Authorities have not disclosed the exact amount stolen, but according to media reports it is about 3 crore rupees, or $314,000.
Ashok Prasad Kushwaha, an auto driver in Delhi, said devotees donate their hard-earned money for God’s work out of faith, and that theft from it feels like a personal loss. This is not the first such donation scandal at India’s major pilgrimage sites; similar scandals have occurred at the Badrinath temple and at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams trust, one of the world’s richest with assets of $31 billion. Rahul Easwar, a grandson of a former chief priest of Kerala’s Sabarimala temple and a Hindu organiser, said: “The core problem is a lack of transparency and accountability,” demanding digital accounts, CCTV surveillance and independent oversight at religious institutions. The theft at the Ram Mandir was carried out by exploiting weaknesses in the counting process and lapses in surveillance.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ram Mandir in 2024. It now draws an average of 90,000 visitors a day, who donate cash, gold and silver jewellery. The theft is especially sensitive because the temple was built on a site of long religious dispute in India: after the demolition of the Babri Mosque there in 1992, more than 2,000 people were killed in nationwide violence. In 2019 a Supreme Court verdict awarded the land for the temple’s construction, after which a nationwide fundraising drive raised about $341 million.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report