BELAGAVI: At a time when preparations for the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Mandir is in full swing, it has come to light that a Belagavi-based scholar N R Vijayendra Sharma, who had fixed mahoorta for the ground-breaking ceremony for the temple, has been receiving anonymous threatening calls for the last few days.
A policeman has been deployed at his residence in Shastri Nagar, Belagavi, in wake of the threat calls.
The callers purportedly threatened the scholar to withdraw the mahoorta that he fixed for the ceremony.
Sources said Sharma had actually given four different mahoortas for the ceremony but the one on August 5 which he had fixed had been accepted.
The 75-year-old Pandit Sharma, who has been associated with the Ramjanma Bhoomi movement over the last many years, was approached by the organisers in February this year to set the date for the religiously significant event. He had picked Akshaya Tritiya, which fell in April this year, for the foundation-laying ceremony. But then the lockdown was announced because of the Covid pandemic and the event had to be put on hold.
“I gave four more dates of July 29, July 31, August 1 and August 5. All the four muhurtas are auspicious and fell in the Shravana Masa, which is an auspicious month in the Hindu calendar. August 5 is also apt for Vaastu Muhurta and ideal for Bhoomi Puja. The foundation has to be laid before 12 noon, after which Rahu Kala sets in,’’ Pandit Sharma told The New Indian Express. But he will not be able to attend the event because of Covid.
Pandit Sharma said that he has been a close aide of Swamy Govind Dev Giriji, who is one of the members of Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust.
He has been the go-to astrologer for many prominent politicians across the political spectrum. He has advised former PMs Morarji Desai and also Atal Bihari Vajpayee.