UP: Jaunpur brothers bring holy water from 151 rivers, soil from 16 sites

LUCKNOW/AYODHYA: A septuagenarian brother duo from Jaunpur have brought their most prized possession to Ayodhya for the 'bhoomi pujan' -- holy water of 151 rivers and pious soil from 16 shrines in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka -- which they had been collecting for 51 years for the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple.
Their over five-decade-old toil concluded on Sunday, when they handed over their worldly possession to Champat Rai, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary.“I feel complete… The purpose of our life has been achieved,” said Radhey Shyam Pandey, the elder one who retired as a government school teacher.
Recalling how the journey began, younger sibling Pandit Triphala said: “To us, Ram is a family member who was not getting his due. Scriptures say truth wins – a fact which was established in 2019, when the court cleared the roadblocks in the way of temple construction. I am here to give all the positivity and goodness I gathered over the years.” What makes their contribution truly remarkable is that initially they walked long distances on foot for their cause.
Then they took to cycling. In old age, they used their hard earned money to travel by air to get the religious material. Also, Pandit Triphala, an author and poet, suffers from congenital blindness. Ayodhya local and health sector social worker Prashant Shukla, who facilitated the brothers’ meeting with trust officials, revealed that they brought water from 151 rivers, three seas, and pious soil from 16 places. “They went to Sri Lanka to bring sea water and Nepal to fetch soil from PashupatiNath Temple,” said Shukla.
The list of places include different Jyotirlings, Shaktipeeths, Somnath, Tripur Sundari Temple, Mahakaleshwar, Parshuram Mahadev, Eklingnath’s temple among other places. The list also includes Sheeshganj Gurudwara, Digambar Jain Temple.
Asked to comment on the significance of their contribution, mahant Girishpati Tripathi of the Tewari Mandir said: “A verse in the Ramcharitmanas (jay din Ram janam shruti gavahi, teerth sakal tahan chali aavahi) tells us that the day any celebration related to Ramlalla (baby Ram) is organized in Ayodhya, religious places get attracted to the city. They have been instrumental in bringing the different revered places of India to Ayodhya during 'Kalyuga'.”