Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, passed away at the age of 83 at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow. According to a statement issued by the institute, he was admitted to the hospital’s Neurology ward on February 3 in critical condition after suffering a brain stroke on February 2.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited SGPGIMS on February 4 to inquire about his health.

A key figure in the history of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Acharya Satyendra Das was the chief priest on December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished. He had shifted the idols to the nearby Fakire Mandir before the demolition and later placed them in the makeshift temple at Ram Janmabhoomi.

Since the consecration of the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he had been serving as its chief priest, overseeing religious ceremonies. Just weeks before his passing, he had led the first-anniversary celebrations of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the temple on January 11, calling the event “very beautiful.”