Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed the Pran Pratistha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir on January 22. A devout Hindu, Narendra Modi observed an 11-day ‘anushthan’ ritual starting on January 12, leading to his participation in the Pran Pratistha ceremony.
A dream coming true for 140 crore Indians who had waited for more than 500 years for the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the newly constructed Ram temple hosted the consecration of the new Ram Lalla idol on Monday, January 22, accompanied by elaborate festivities in the town bringing it to life like never before.
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also present inside the sanctum during the ceremonies.
Dressed up in a golden kurta, a cream dhoti and patka, PM Modi entered the temple carrying a silver ‘chattar’ (umbrella). He took the ‘sankalp’ or ‘vow’ for the “pran pratishtha ceremony” before proceeding to the sanctum sanctorum for the ritual.
14 couples from different parts of India acted as ‘yajmaans‘ (hosts) for the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of the new 51-inch idol of Ram Lalla. The idol was placed in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum on Thursday, January 18.
The idol of Ram Lalla was sculpted by Arun Yogiraj of Mysuru.
Outside the sanctum, the Pran Pratishtha ceremony was attended by nearly 7,000 special invitees in Ayodhya. People from various backgrounds, including representatives of major spiritual and religious sects, members of tribal communities, Bollywood and sporting stars, industrialists, notable personalities – in short, India’s who’s who attended the auspicious ceremony. The distinguished select list includes 506 A-listers like Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Sachin Tendulkar and actress Kangana Ranaut.
Announcing to the whole world the heralding of new India, Chief Imam of All India Imam Organization, Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi also attended and participated in the celebrations with taking his seat along the Hindu leaders.
As part of the celebration, army helicopters showered flower petals on the temple premises during the consecration.
Most Opposition leaders, however, abstained, with the Congress describing it as a “BJP-RSS event.” Its chieftain Rahul Gandhi was busy, along with his Assamese Congressmen to continue his, yet another failed venture – Nyay yatra.
The reasons given by the Opposition leaders were too flimsy for anyone to fall for. For instance Samajwadi party honcho Akhilesh Yadav refused to attend saying he did not know the temple people who had sent him the invite and it was not his culture to accept invites from people he did not know.
The grand Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir, has been constructed in the traditional Nagara style, and boasts dimensions of 380 feet (east-west length), 250 feet (width), and 161 feet (height). It has 392 pillars and features 44 doors, and showcases intricately sculpted depictions of Hindu deities on its pillars and walls. The main sanctum sanctorum on the ground floor houses the idol of Ram Lalla.
To give chance to every Indian to participate in the celebrations, January 22 was officially announced as only half-day by the central government, which was soon adopted by many states. As a result, an unprecedented large audience witnessed the historic event live on TV and online platforms across the world. Temples all over India organized special festivities to mark the occasion.
For the Hindu diaspora abroad, the committee had dispatched “Akshat Kalashas”, to various countries including Australia and the Hindus here down under got fully involved with local temples organizing live streaming of the ceremony from Ayodhya, bhajans, langars and prasadam.
With various critics of the BJP and Narendra Modi vowing to stay away and some Muslim leaders refusing to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court of India and the temple at Ayodhya, various agencies had apprehensions of untoward incidents taking place at Ayodhya, particularly when Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi were going to be at the same place at the same time.
But the government was fully prepared. A seriously strong security cover, including 10,000 CCTV cameras and hi-tech drones, were put in place for the consecration ceremony. Fortunately, the authorities’ arrangements put in place were sufficiently appropriate and not a single incident took place.
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