The trust overseeing the Ram temple in Ayodhya has announced senior leadership changes after allegations that donations made by devotees were stolen from the high-profile Hindu shrine.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said it had accepted the resignation of its general secretary, Champat Rai, and appointed retired forest officer Krishna Mohan as interim general secretary. The changes were confirmed after the trust held a meeting on Monday, its first since the allegations became public last month.
The temple, dedicated to the Hindu deity Ram, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024 and has since become one of India’s most prominent pilgrimage destinations. It draws tens of millions of visitors each year and holds major religious and political significance in India.
Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri told reporters that Rai and another official, Anil Mishra, had resigned after police lodged a complaint on 25 June. He also said the trust had created a new chief executive officer post, with a three-member committee to recommend names for the role.
Mohan, who has been named interim general secretary, is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an influential Hindu nationalist organisation with ideological links to several groups, including Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The trust had previously denied wrongdoing after claims emerged about the handling of donations. The Uttar Pradesh state government has since formed a three-member Special Investigation Team to examine the allegations.
Giri said the trust had received 5.82bn rupees, equivalent to about $61m or £45.6m, in donations from devotees up to 31 March 2026. He said 3.19bn rupees, about $33.5m or £25m, had been spent on the temple’s maintenance and related needs.
He did not state how much money or how many valuables were alleged to have been stolen. According to The Indian Express, Giri called for strict action against anyone found responsible and said the trust was concerned about the damage caused to devotees’ confidence and the institution’s standing.
The allegations were first raised by a former accounts supervisor, who has said he was dismissed after flagging concerns internally. The claims have since become a political issue, with opposition parties questioning how cash, jewellery, gold and silver donated by worshippers were managed and accounted for.
Petitions have also been filed in the state high court and the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation by federal police. No final investigative findings have yet been announced.
A former local legislator has alleged that more than 70m rupees, around $739,000 or £560,000, may be missing. That figure has not been confirmed by investigators or the trust.
Giri said the trustees themselves had not committed theft, according to the ANI news agency, and said the alleged wrongdoing involved people who had been trusted by senior officials. He said the matter had caused distress because of the religious importance of the temple and the faith placed in its management by devotees.
In his first remarks after taking up the interim post, Mohan said his priority would be to identify weaknesses in the system and ensure such incidents were not repeated. He also acknowledged that the allegations had harmed public trust in the institution.
The Ayodhya temple stands on one of India’s most contested religious sites. It was built where the 16th-century Babri mosque once stood before it was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, an event that triggered widespread communal violence in which nearly 2,000 people were killed. Many Hindus believe the site marks the birthplace of Ram.
The temple’s construction was a long-standing demand of Hindu nationalist groups and a major political promise by Modi’s party. Its opening in 2024 was presented by the government and supporters as a historic religious milestone, while critics pointed to the unresolved social and political tensions associated with the site’s history.
The trust is expected to meet again on 22 July. Giri said it hoped police would have submitted their final report by then, leaving the immediate focus on the investigation, the new administrative structure and efforts to restore confidence among devotees who have contributed to the shrine.
