S Lakshminarayanan, former union home secretary of the 1970 batch from Madhya Pradesh cadre has decided to donate his life's earnings of Rs 5 crore to Ayodhya Ram Mandir Trust.
Lakshminarayanan would donate the amount towards commissioning a 151 kg Ramcharitmanas at a which will be installed in front of the idol following the consecration of Lord Ram.
According to trust sources, each page of this epic, comprising 10,902 verses, will be crafted from copper. The emerald will be dipped in 24-carat gold, and gold-studded letters will be inscribed. This metal book will require 140 kg of copper and five to seven kg of gold among other metals used for decoration.
The Ramcharitmanas will be crafted by the famous Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers who had designed and crafted sengol installed in the new parliament building of India.
Lakshminarayanan on his visit to temple along with his wife Saraswati interacted with trust officials. He shared with with them that he leads a simple life and doesn't have any fancy needs.
“I am a person of simple tastes and my need are limited. I can't even spend my monthly pension,” he told them.
Lakshminarayanan, whose native place is in Tamil Nadu, was born in Delhi. Later, he cracked IAS and was allotted Madhya Pradesh cadre. He retired as union home secretary and then settled in Delhi.
In an interview, Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee, had shared that funds for the temple construction are entirely sourced from devotees, with no government involvement.
As of the end of September this year, around Rs 3,500 crore has been collected through donations, which was initiated by former president of India Ram Nath Kovind who contributed Rs 5.01 lakh towards temple construction.
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