Ayodhya (UP): At least 3,000 candidates applied for posts of priests at the Ram temple in Ayodhya after the Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust advertised vacancies, an official said on Monday.

Of these, 200 candidates were selected for interviews on the basis of merit, the trust official said. The 200 candidates selected are facing interviews that are going on at Karsevak Puram, the Vishva Hindu Parishad's (VHP) headquarters in Ayodhya.

A three-member panel of Jaykant Mishra -- a Hindu preacher from Vrindavan -- and two mahants, Mithilesh Nandini Sharan and Satyanarayan Das, from Ayodhya are conducting the interviews, the official said. The trust will select 20 candidates.

The selected candidates will be appointed as priests and deployed in different posts after six months of residential training. Those who are not selected will attend the training and be given certificates, said Govind Dev Giri, the trust treasurer.

They will also have the chance to be called for the posts of priest that may be created in the future, he added. "What is 'Sandhya Vandan' , what are its procedures and what are the 'mantras' for this worship? What are the 'mantras' for worshipping Lord Ram and what are 'karma kand' for this? ... all these types of questions were asked to the candidates who had come for the interview," Giri said.

The training will be based on the religious syllabus prepared by top seers. During the training, the candidates will get free fooding and lodging and given Rs 2,000 as stipend, he added.