‘Pran Pratistha’ invitation cards carry pic of temple, booklet on Ram mandir movement

PTI, Jan 4, 2024, 5:00 PM IST

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Ayodhya: The invitation cards for the consecration ceremony at the Ram mandir in Ayodhya on January 22 is in sync with the grandeur of the temple being built. It has an imposing image of the structure and also of a very young Lord Ram.

Besides the large-size aesthetically designed cards, the invitation also includes a booklet carrying brief profiles of some of the key people who were involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Ayodhya is getting decked up for the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ at the temple on January 22 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend it.

Over 7,000 people are on the invitee list of the temple trust — Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra — and they include cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, and billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, according to official sources.

The invitation cards are being delivered to guests.

A top official in the trust told PTI here that ‘invitation cards have been printed in both Hindi and English’.

The guest list also includes a large number of sadhus and seers, and some foreign invitees.

Each invitation set carries the main invitation card, the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ programme card and a booklet on the journey of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and people who played a part in it, directly or indirectly.

A silhouetted image of the upcoming Ram temple is on the cover of the main invitation card and below it is printed ‘Shree Ram Dham’, and further below it ‘Ayodhya’.

‘Invitation Extraordinaire’ or ‘Apoorva Anadik Nimantran’ (Hindi) is also printed on the cover of the main invite.

PTI has seen the invitation card being sent to the guests.

The cover of the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ programme card also carries a silhouetted image of the temple and a caption below it describes the event as ‘Ceremony Special’ or ‘Karyakram Vishesh’ (in Hindi).

It also mentions that the ‘shubh muhurt’ for the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ is 12:20 pm and the date of the consecration ceremony — Monday, January 22, 2024.

Inside, the ceremony card mentions that consecration will take place in the august presence of ‘Prime Minister, Bharat’, Narendra Modi, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and president of the temple trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

Actors Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia, who played the roles of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita in the famous TV serial ‘Ramayan’, have also been invited to the ceremony.

The trust has also invited 4,000 seers from across the country.

General secretary of the trust, Champat Rai, had earlier said, “Family members of the 50 karsevaks who lost their lives during the Ram temple movement have also been invited. Invitations have also been sent to judges, scientists, writers and poets.”

The main invitation card on its inside has images of the temple and ‘Baalrup Prabhu Ram’ — in which the deity has been depicted graphically in a young avatar wearing royal raiments, standing on a lotus, carrying a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, and royal locks of hair framing his divine face.

On the next page of the main invitation card, date and other details of the ceremony have been mentioned, and the auspicious ceremony for ‘Ram Lala’s return to the original seat at the new grand temple-home’.

The next page of the main invitation card mentions about the struggle to build the temple.

The booklet carrying the profiles of those who were involved with Ram temple movement, also has artistic portraits of the personalities being described about, which include seer Devraha Baba Ji Maharaj, Mahant Abhiram Das, Paramhans Ramchandradas, K K Nayar, the then district magistrate of Faizabad in 1949-50, Thakur Gurudutt Singh: Rajendra Singh ‘Rajju Bhaiya’, and Ashok Singhal who later also served as the president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The Ram temple complex, built in the traditional Nagara style, will be 380 feet in length (east-west direction), 250 feet in width and 161 feet in height, Rai had said earlier. Each floor of the temple will be 20 feet high and have a total of 392 pillars and 44 gates.