Bhagwat visits ashrams ahead of temple expo in Varanasi

Varanasi, July 19 (IANS) With just three days left for the two-day International Temples Convention and Expo (ITCX) to begin, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will visit a few ashrams in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

This expo is the world's first event solely dedicated to the management of temples across the globe.

Bhagwat's tour is seen as a move by the RSS to mobilise temple managements and seek support for the BJP ahead of the next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Though the RSS has not put out any official statement on Bhagwat's visit, a senior functionary said that it was "routine" for the RSS chief to keep up interaction with saints and seers - more so when the "threat to Hindu religion is getting pronounced".

On Wednesday, the RSS chief visited Siddhapeeth Hathiaram, ashram in Ghazipur and met Acharya Bhavani Nandan. The ashram has an 800-year-old history and its head is known as Haathi Sant.

Meanwhile, the temple convention, being held months ahead of the opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and then the Lok Sabha elections, assumes immense political significance, as does the venue which happens to be the Prime Minister's parliamentary constituency.

The presence of temple managements and heads from southern states clearly indicates that the intention is to consolidate the Hindutva plank on a pan-India basis with a focus on southern states.

The event is being hosted by Temple Connect (TC), which is a leading platform dedicated to the documentation, digitalisation and distribution of information related to temples of Indian origin.

The sessions will cover topics on temple safety, security and surveillance, fund management, disaster management, sanitisation, and hygiene as well as optimal use of new-age technology like artificial intelligence (AI) for protection against cyber-attacks and social media management to foster a strong and connected temple community apart from subjects like crowd and queue management, solid waste management, and infrastructure enhancement under the umbrella of pilgrim experience.

The most significant part of the convention is the participation of over 450 personalities from devotional institutions of religious minorities including Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism from across 25 countries. The congregation of Hindu religious minorities at the event will, in all probability, extend tacit support to a uniform civil code, thereby demolishing the myth that all minorities are opposed to UCC.