On a sultry July afternoon, with the sun playing hide-and-seek behind the 161-foot-tall spire of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, people pass through the steel crowd-control barricades that regulate entry. People from across generations and genders gather outside the Jagadguru Shri Ramanandacharya Dwar, the main entry point of the shrine, which took seven years and ₹1,900 crore to build.They walk through the familiar ritual of passing through metal detectors, being frisked, depositing their belongings at counters in an expansive courtyard, before entering the main temple. Bare feet on warm pink stone, foreheads smeared with sandalwood and vermilion paste, folded hands and the low murmur of “Jai Shri Ram” carrying from one group of devotees to the next.After roughly 40 minutes in this process, 67-year-old Saraswati Devi, from Mathura, reaches the sanctum. She folds her hands before the black stone idol of Ram Lalla and prays silently. As a security guard gestures for her to move on so others can take their turn, she pauses at the donation box in the hall. In her palm are a few sweat-dampened currency notes. She turns them over once, looks at them for a second or two, then slips in the smallest denomination, a 10-rupee note, withholding the rest.Outside, she says, “The last time I came here, in October 2024 (the year the temple was consecrated), I offered (₹)1,000. I even donated (₹)2,100 for the temple construction in 2021, when they were collecting door to door,” she says, admitting that this time, “Vaja sabko pata hai (Everyone knows the reason).”The reason she refers to is the alleged theft of cash from the counting tables of donation money that came to the temple managed by the trust Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (SRJBTK). In May, a security guard discovered bundles of cash in a temple washroom, triggering an internal inquiry. In June, some employees were found smuggling cash out of the temple. Soon, Opposition parties took it up, with Samajwadi Party head and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav calling it a multi-crore scam. The temple trust was forced to file a First Information Report.In mid-June the Uttar Pradesh government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to fix accountability. The investigators have spent weeks analysing CCTV footage, matching surveillance records with duty rosters, entry registers, and cash-counting logs to identify possible breaches. So far, eight persons have been accused in the alleged theft, ₹80 lakh in cash has been seized, and 30 bank accounts linked to the accused have been frozen. The State Bank of India, which was overseeing transactions, is also under a shadow.The larger fallout has been that the 15 all-male temple trust office-bearers are being held morally responsible by people. One of them is general secretary Champat Rai, a senior leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who was also among the original cohort of people who had called for the making of the Ram Mandir in the late 1980s. He and trustee Anil Mishra resigned. Now, the temple is looking for a CEO, which many devotees are not in favour of.The largest fallout though is playing out in the temple town itself. Devotees insist nothing has shaken their faith in Ram or the temple. What has been shaken is their trust in those entrusted with managing the offerings. Many like Saraswati Devi now hesitate before dropping money into the donation box. The once-crowded donation box areas are empty.In a city that has tied its future to faith-driven tourism, the allegations have also stirred uncertainty. If the custodians have failed, several devotees say, then protecting the sanctity of Ram’s legacy and the trust it rests on, has become a responsibility they must now share.Broken trust and shared responsibilitySushil Vyas, 69, from Mohali, and his wife Meena Vyas, had no plans to visit Ayodhya in weather so humid an hour outdoors leaves a shirt sweat-soaked. They have visited the temple four times since construction began after the Supreme Court’s 2019 order.The donation theft changed that.“The donation theft has disturbed all of us. But what disturbed me more was the news on social media saying footfall at the temple had declined after the incident. I decided right away to come here with my friends, to help increase footfall in whatever way I could,” Sushil says, his wife nodding.For Meena, a house does not stop being sacred because someone dishonest walked through its door. “I have full faith that Ram Lalla himself will make sure the truth comes out and the guilty are punished. That is not my job. My job is only to keep believing in Ram,” she adds.Asked if the couple had made any offerings at the temple, Vyas nods: “I offered what I felt like giving. But yes, this time it took me a second to slip the money into the donation box. I asked myself if my money was going into the right hands.”Sanjeev Bhargava, who accompanied the Vyas couple, says he feels a responsibility to make sure no non-believer gets to mock his god amid the current situation. “These Opposition parties refused to accept Lord Ram’s existence earlier. They’re so interested now that his money has been stolen,” he says, noting that Uttar Pradesh is due for Assembly polls in six months. The donation embezzlement was first brought to public notice by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, he points out. They also say much of the hype around the alleged chanda chori (donation theft) has been the media playing it out.The three are sitting in Radha-Ratna, a hotel at Ayodhya’s Lata Mangeshkar Chowk between the Ram temple and the Saryu river, at a busy intersection. They have also called in Pramod Kumar Mishra, the president of the Tour Guide Welfare Association of Ayodhya, who they formed a bond with on their previous visits. “They wanted to meet my son,” Pramod says, as his wife and child play at the next table. He says Ayodhya builds relationships among believers. One member of his team of about 50 core and 300 peripheral members is there, explaining that a big part of the feeling of being deceived is because the temple’s inauguration was accompanied by so much “PR”.In the temple and around the city