Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, has passed away. After several days of his death, there will no longer be many main priests in Ayodhya. This information has been given by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Area Secretary Champat Rai. Champat Rai made this comment in response to a question asked on the appointment of the new chief priest after the death of Acharya Satyendra Das.
Rai said that now there will be no main priest because there is no person of Das’s age and respect, he said that no one is a scholar as a scholar. Rai said on Sunday, “We asked Acharya Satyendra Das 6 months ago; now there will be no main priest. There is no person of Satyendra Das’s age and respect; no one else has been a Mahant of Hanumangarhi for so long.”He said, “He was serving since 1993. He used to take a monthly salary of Rs 100. Now, everyone is young and new; no one is a scholar as his. Now, it would be an exaggeration to address someone as the main priest.
Who was Acharya Satyendra Das?
Das was a Hindu Mahant and the main priest of Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. Even before the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992, he was the chief priest of the Ram temple. He was one of the first Hindu priests to condemn the petition seeking a ban on the International Krishna Chetna Society (ISKCON) in Bangladesh. Acharya Satyendra Das was considered one of the most accessible saints of Ayodhya and often contacted him for information about the developments related to Ayodhya and Ram temple.
On February 12 this year, he died at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) of Lucknow at the age of 83. He was admitted to the hospital on 3 February after brain stroke. The hospital said, “Satyendra Das ji, the chief priest of Ayodhya Ram temple, breathed his last today. He was admitted to the HDU (High Dependency Unit) of Neurology Ward after stroke on 3 February.”
