The donation drive for Ayodhya Ram Mandir construction began on Friday (15 January), with the President Ramnath Kovind contributing Rs 5,00,100 for the construction of the grand Ram temple, reports Hindustan Times.

President Kovind made the contribution after a delegation called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The delegation includes Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) international working president Alok Kumar, treasurer of the Ram Janmabhoomi teerth Kshetra trust Govind Dev Giri and former bureaucrat Nripendra Misra the head of the temple construction committee.

Last week, the secretary general of VHP Milind Parande said that VHP’s campaign to collect funds for the construction of Ayodhya Ram Mandir will begin on 14 January starting with contributions from President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hindu religious and other nationalist organizations are planning the biggest outreach to collect funds for the construction of Ram Mandir.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to reach out to five lakh villages and ten crore families for collection of funds for Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body responsible for building Ram Temple, is conducting a fundraising campaign from 14 January to 27 February.

The trust plans to involve 55 crore family members of 12 crore Hindu families from more than five lakh villages in this initiative.

The construction of the grand temple of Lord Ram at the ancient city of Ayodhya is estimated to cost around Rs 1,100 crore, of which around Rs 300-400 crore will be the cost of building the main temple structure.