Ram Mandir Trust invites PM Modi for idol consecration in January

PTI, Jul 27, 2023, 3:20 PM IST

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent a formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the consecration of the idol of Lord Rama in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple January next year, a trust member said on Thursday.

The trust will extend invitations to around 10,000 guests for the ceremony. The Trust has formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi writing him a letter recently and dates between 15 January to 24 January have been given, but the exact date will be decided by the Prime Minister himself, general secretary of Ram Mandir Trust Champat Rai told PTI. The letter sent to the PM is signed by the president of temple trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

If the Prime Minister attends the ceremony then the country’s image will boost worldwide, he said. In August 2020, Modi had performed the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the Supreme Court-mandated Ram temple in Ayodhya.

On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court settled the fractious issue going back more than a century and backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site. Keeping in view the expected attendance, the security agencies have started to design a foolproof and guests-friendly security system for the ceremony.

Apart from the VIPs, the Ayodhya administration is expecting a heavy inflow of common devotees to the temple on the day of the ceremony.

Agencies want to restrict the inflow of devotees on ceremony day as it may disturb the security, a senior official said.

Meanwhile, the trust has increased the numbers of labourers and technicians engaged in the construction of the Ram temple to meet the December deadline, as announced by the trust earlier.

Earlier, 550 workers were working on the construction of the Ram temple, but in the last few weeks the trust has increased this number to around 1,600. The work which used to be done in an 18-hour shift earlier, is now apace round-the-clock. The trust has fixed a deadline to complete the ground floor work by December so that the temple can be opened for devotees by January 2024, Rai said. In preparation for the ceremony, plants and flowers worth Rs 22 crores will be planted on the routes leading to the Ram Janambhoomi temple.

The state forest department has undertaken the work to enhance the beauty of Ram Path, Dharm Path and Bhakti Path by planting various types of ornamental plants, besides seasonal flowers, he said. Ayodhya Commissioner Gaurav Dayal told PTI that about 4,750 saplings would be planted in a chainage of 500-500 metres along the footpaths on both sides of the Rampath, in decorative pattern of Tabebuia argentea (yellow colour), Tabebuia rosea (pink), Tabebuia argentea (yellow colour), Gulmohar (red) and Chorisia speciosa (pink). The Commissioner said the temple will bring to the city the tag a global tourist destination.

The process of beautification of Dharmapath, Panch Kosi, Chaudah Kosi parikrama routes has started, he said.