Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Mar 28: N Thippeswamy, secretary of campaign committee has informed that Rs 200 crore has been collected as donation from across Karnataka for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

Speaking at the valedictory function of the campaign that was organized at the Rashtrothana Yoga Kendra at Sadashivanagar of the city, Thippeswamy said, "The campaign which was held for 45 days throughout the country reached 12 crore houses. A fund of more than Rs 2,500 crore has been collected.

"In Karnataka, activists of the campaign visited 29,724 villages. In 18,004 villages, all the houses were visited. In total 93.6 lac houses were contacted for donation collection and an amount of Rs 200 crore was collected," he said.

"The aim was to reach each and every village and house in Karnataka. So far 80% houses have been contacted. All over India, 12 crore houses were contacted in 5.5 lac villages and urban areas. Everyone has responded generously to the cause, including the union territories inhabited by 100% Christian community.

"In the conventions that were held all over Karnataka, 1,250 swamijis took part. As many as 695 swamijis accompanied the activists of the campaign in various village and urban areas and collected funds for the construction of Ram Mandir. In total 2.56 lac workers, including 27,071 women activists participated in the donation campaign," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Pejawar Swamiji and member of Ayodhya Ram Mandir trust, Shri Vishwaprasanna Theertha said, "If building Ram Mandir is one part of the campaign, inculcating the ideals of Lord Sri Ram by all citizens of India is another face of it. We thought that it is very difficult to collect funds for the construction of Ram Mandir. However, we were pleasantly surprised that we could collect more funds than expected within a short time."

Ma Venkataramu, president of the campaign committee and Adrishya Kadasiddeshwara Swamiji of Kaneri Siddhagiri Math were present.