Ayodhya's Ram temple pran pratishtha on 22 January, PM Modi likely to take part in consecration ceremony

The consecration ceremony or pran pratishtha of Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya is expected to take place on 22 January 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take part in the Ram temple’s consecration ceremony-related event on any day between 20-24 January 2024, PTI quoted Construction Committee Chairperson Nripendra Mishra as saying.

VIDEO | “The administration has enhanced security for the Prime Minister, who is scheduled to visit Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony. I would like to appeal to everyone not to visit Ayodhya during this time. It would be better for them to plan their visit in February,” says… pic.twitter.com/EI5qDcrgZQ

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 26, 2023

The final date is yet to be communicated by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he said.

Ram temple trust appeal to people

Security has been heightened in Ayodhya for the visit of PM Modi for the consecration ceremony, said Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

“I would like to appeal to everyone not to visit Ayodhya during this time. It would be better for them to plan their visit in February,” Rai added.

The temple construction committee has said a huge rush is expected on 22 January next year when the ceremony will take place. The trust has urged people to see it from their homes, and villages (via television broadcast).

Meanwhile, a formal invitation will be sent to PM Modi from the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the consecration ceremony during which the idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

The temple trust has decided to start the process of the consecration of Ram Lalla after Makar Sankranti on 14 January, and observe a 10-day ritual of Ram Lalla’s ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration).

When will Ayodhya’s Ram temple open for public?

The Ram temple in Ayodhya is likely to open for devotees on 24 January 2024, after the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol, Mishra said in June.

Speaking about the plan for devotees who will come after the consecration ceremony, Mishra said, they will get 15-20 seconds time to for a ‘darshan’, but they will be satisfied with the overall experience at the temple complex.

Update of Ayodhya’s Ram temple construction

The construction of the ground floor of the three-storey Ram temple in Ayodhya will be completed by December 2023-end, Mishra said.

Mishra informed that the work is underway to design an apparatus that will be installed on the ‘shikhar’ of the temple, which will make sun rays fall momentarily on the forehead of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum on the day of Ram Navami every year.

It is being built in Bengaluru and its design is being overseen by scientists, he added.

The Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, and an institute in Pune have jointly created a computerised programme for this, Mishra said.

Giving details on the temple architecture and construction material, Mishra said, iron has not been used in its construction, and copper has been used to link stone blocks.

The built-up area of the temple is 2.5 acres and if one includes the ‘parikrama path’ the total area of the complex is about eight acres, he said.

Ninety bronze panels will depict the life and duties performed by Lord Ram, he added.

He also said about Rs 900 crore has been spent so far on the temple’s construction, and it is estimated that about Rs 1,700 crore to 1,800 crore will be spent on the overall construction of the complex.

Mishra said some artifacts were unearthed during excavations by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and some objects were found during the temple’s groundbreaking and construction work.

Some of these items have been placed safely under the custody of the trust, Mishra said.

“After taking permission from the ASI, we will display these in a proposed museum.” Asked about the invitees for the consecration ceremony, he said, a preliminary list of 10,000 people is being prepared, which will include saints, seers, people associated with Ram temple movement etc, he added.

The Supreme Court in a 2019 verdict had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the holy town of Uttar Pradesh.

The court had ruled that the 2.77 acres of the disputed land where the demolished 16th century-era Babri Masjid once stood would remain with a Central government receiver and be handed over to the trust within three months of the ruling for the construction of the temple.

With inputs from PTI