Ayodhya: New Ram Lalla idol to be known as ‘Balak Ram’

PTI, Jan 23, 2024, 3:07 PM IST

The new Ram Lalla idol consecrated at the grand Ram temple on Monday will be known as ”Balak Ram” as it depicts the deity as a five-year-old boy in a standing posture.

”The idol of Lord Ram, whose consecration was done on January 22, has been named as ‘Balak Ram’. The reason for naming the idol of Lord Ram as ‘Balak Ram’ is that he resembles a child, whose age is five years,” Arun Dixit, a priest associated with the consecration ceremony told PTI. ”The first time I saw the idol, I was thrilled and tears started rolling down my face. I cannot explain the feeling I experienced then,” he added. The Varanasi-based priest, who has conducted nearly 50-60 consecrations, said, ”Of all the consecrations (I have) performed so far, this is the most ‘alaukik (divine)’ and ‘sarvoch’ (supreme) for me.” Dixit said he had the first glimpse of the idol on January 18.

The idol was consecrated on Monday in a grand ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said it marked the advent of a new era. The old idol of Ram Lalla, which was earlier kept in a makeshift shrine, has been placed in front of the new idol.

Lakhs of people watched the ‘pran pratishtha (consecration)’ ceremony on television in their homes and neighbourhood temples, becoming part of the historic event held just months before the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the ornaments for the idol have been prepared after extensive research and study of texts such as the Adhyatma Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas and the Alavandar Stotram.

The idol is adorned in Banarasi fabric, featuring a yellow dhoti and a red ‘pataka’ or ‘angavastram’. The ‘angavastram’ are embellished in pure gold ‘zari’ and threads, featuring auspicious Vaishnav symbols — ‘shankh’, ‘padma’, ‘chakra’ and ‘mayur’. While the ornaments have been crafted by Ankur Anand’s Lucknow-based Harsahaimal Shiamlal Jewellers, the garments were created by Delhi-based textile designer Manish Tripathi, who worked from Ayodhya Dham for the project. The 51-inch idol chiselled by Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj has been carved out of a three billion-year-old rock. The azure-coloured Krishna Shile (black schist) was excavated from Gujjegowdanapura at Jayapura Hobli in HD Kote Taluk of Mysuru. It is a fine-to-medium-grained, sky-blue metamorphic rock, generally called soapstone because of its smooth surface texture and is ideal for sculptors to carve idols. The Krishna Shile was found while levelling the agricultural land of Ramdas (78) and a local contractor, who assessed the quality of the stone, drew the attention of the temple trustees in Ayodhya through his contacts.

Yogiraj, who has received effusive praise for his work, told PTI, ”I have always felt that Lord Ram has been shielding me and my family from all the bad times and I strongly believe that it was Him who chose me for the auspicious task.” ”I spent sleepless nights working on the idol with precision but it was all worth it. I feel I am the luckiest person on Earth and today is the best day of my life. I learnt the art of sculpting from my father. He would have been very proud to see my idol here today,” he added.

Rama Lalla idols for the grand temple were made by three sculptors — Ganesh Bhatt, Yogiraj and Satyanarayan Pandey. The temple trust said that of the three, one would be placed in the sanctum sanctorum while the other two kept in other parts of the mandir.