AYODHYA: 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 and they will be given six months of residential training.