Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust on December 7 said several tent cities have been erected in Ayodhya to accommodate around 10,000-15,000 devotees expected to arrive in the temple town for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22 next month, news agency ANI reported.
“…If 10,000-15,000 people want to stay the night, where will they find a shelter? Where will they get food and water? …For this purpose, the Trust is setting up a new tin-shed city which will be ready by at least February-end…,” the agency quoted Champat Rai, General Secretary of Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust as saying.
“Experienced workers of the VHP and RSS from across the country are being called for this purpose…Everyone is carrying out their duties with full responsibility…” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be chief guest at the ceremony on January 22, 2024. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will also be present at the event. Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust has invited 4,000 saints of all sects for the ceremony.
The Trust has decided to enthrone Ram Lalla at the sanctum-sanctorum of the temple between 12 noon and 12:45 pm on that day.
The Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) will start on January 16,—a week before the main ceremony. Lakshmi Kant Dixit, a Vedic priest from Varanasi, will perform the main rituals of the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony on January 22.
Champat Rai said Ayodhya will mark a nine-day Amrit Mahautsav starting January 14. A 1008 Hundi Mahayagya will also be organised during the mahautsav, where thousands of people will be given food.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020, laid the foundation stone of Sri Ram Janambhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. It is important to note that the Supreme Court‘s verdict in 2019 paved the way for constructing a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Adani, Bachchan, Kohli, Sachin among 8,000 invitees for ceremony
Invitations for the ceremony have been extended by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra to nearly 8,000 dignitaries including industrialists Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata. Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, besides cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are also among the invitees.
Sources in the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) said invites have also been sent to journalists who supported them in making “the Ram temple a reality”. Among those likely to feature in the list of invitees are Sudhir Choudhary, Rajat Sharma, Arnab Goswami, Shweta Singh, Dainik Bhaskar MD Sudhir Agarwal, Jagran Prakashan CEO Sanjay Gupta and non-executive chairman Mahendra Mohan Gupta, besides India Today editor-in-chief Aroon Purie.
“We have invited journalists who have supported us through our journey. We have invited them formally to attend the event and take darshan as without them this struggle for Ram mandir was incomplete,” a VHP worker told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Invites have also been sent via post and WhatsApp to saints, priests, shankaracharyas, religious leaders and VVIPs including former civil servants, retired Army officers, lawyers, scientists, poets, musicians and Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan recipients.
Of the 8,000 invitees, nearly 6,000 will be religious leaders from from across the country, while the remaining 2,000 will be VVIPs from all walks of life, said a senior VHP functionary. The VHP worker added that a link will be shared with the invitees in the days leading up to the ceremony. Once they register using the link, a bar code will be generated that will then serve as their entry pass.
The Ram Lalla idol to be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the grand temple in Ayodhya will be selected later this month from the three idols currently being chiseled by renowned sculptors in the temple town, HT reported.A five-member committee of prominent seers, constituted by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra — the trust overseeing the construction of the grand temple — will select the presiding idol depicting Lord Ram in the child form.
“It is most likely that the three idols will be ready between December 15 and December 20 to go through the selection process,” a member of the Trust said, requesting anonymity.
Two idols are being made from stones sourced from Karnataka and one from Rajasthan. Renowned sculptors Ganesh Bhatt and Arun Yogiraj from Karnataka and Satya Narayan Pandey from Rajasthan are chiseling the idols in Ayodhya at separate locations, which have been kept out of bounds of public.
All three idols of Ram Lalla are based on the sketch presented to the Trust by Mumbai-based renowned artist Vasudeo Kamath. “Ram Lalla’s 51-inch idol which is aesthetically closer to the deity will be selected,” Kameshwar Choupal, a member of the Trust, said. Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, who is part of the selection panel, said: “The idol must be a replica of five-year-old Ram Lalla. Selecting one idol out of the three will not be easy. The only criterion will be its resemblance to Ram Lalla.”’
The Trust will reveal the selected idol to the people in a Shobha Yatra in Ayodhya on January 17, days before it will be placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple on January 22. Starting January 18, five-day rituals of Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla will start