'Depositors' in 'Ram Naam Bank' to get awards

Prayagraj, Nov 17 (IANS) The 'Ram Naam Bank' in Prayagraj, where account holders deposit booklets with the name of Lord Ram written on it instead of currency, is preparing to give awards to its depositors after the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya.

Awards will be given to devotees who have written and deposited the name of Lord Ram at least 1.25 lakh times by the midnight of November 9-10 and deposited in the 'bank'.

Ashutosh Varshney, the chairman of Ram Naam Sewa Sansthan which runs the bank, told reporters that the 'bonus' will mean that the name of Lord Ram written by devotees -- either handwritten, typed on specially-designed pages or through mobile app -- will be doubled.

He explained, "If a devotee has written 'Ram Naam' once, it will be considered as two. However, for the purpose of award/honour the minimum benchmark has been fixed as 1.25 lakh. Those who have written the name of Lord Ram at least 1.25 lakh times by midnight of November 9-10, will be eligible for the award."

The award will be a certificate from Ram Naam Bank, a shawl and a 'shriphal' at a special function organised in Sangam area of Allahabad during the 2020 Magh Mela.

Those who have crossed the one crore mark, will be provided free accommodation at the bank's camp located on Akshayvatt Marg. So far, more than 12 devotees have crossed the one crore mark of deposits.

The deposits are in the form of a booklet given by the Ram Naam Bank with 30 pages, and each page consists of 108 cells, where the name of Lord Ram is to be written by the account holders.

Around 1,200 devotees had pledged during Kumbh Mela earlier this year that they will continue to write Lord Ram's name so that a peaceful and amicable settlement of the Ayodhya dispute is reached.

The Ram Naam Bank was started by Varshney's grandfather who had set up the organisation in early part of the 20th century.

The bank has no monetary transactions. Account holders write the name of Lord Ram in Urdu, English and Bengali.

"The divine name of Lord Ram is credited in the account of the account holder. A passbook is issued like other banks. All these services are provided free of cost. Ram Naam Bank has ledgers and passbooks like any other bank, and maintains the records of its 'depositors'. The only currency that works in this bank is the name of Lord Ram," said Varshney.

The size of one's account is determined by the number of times one writes and deposits the name of Lord Ram in the bank.