How Ayodhya is getting decked up for groundbreaking event of temple

Ayodhya is getting decked up for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ram temple, which is scheduled to be held on August 5, after it was delayed by over two months in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Grand preparations are underway for the ceremony, said the Ram temple trust. It said over 50 VIPs will attend the event and that safety rules will be maintained in view of coronavirus pandemic. Besides, giant CCTV screens will also be placed across Ayodhya so that devotees can watch the event, NDTV quoted the Trust as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya on August 5 for the groundbreaking ceremony, and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra has begun preparations for the same, its members said on Sunday.

“I can’t tell the exact date but we have information that the PM’s visit has been tentatively scheduled for August 5,” said Triloki Nath Pandey, decree holder of the Ram Janmabhoomi mandated by the Supreme Court.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will also join the groundbreaking ceremony. Senior BJP leaders associated with the temple movement, including LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi, as well as other senior leaders like Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar, will also be invited for the ceremony, the Trust said.

According to the Trust’s president Nritya Gopal Das, the groundbreaking ceremony will be performed with the placing of a 40-kg silver brick at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Three-day-long Vedic rituals, beginning August 3, will precede the main ceremony.

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Before the groundbreaking ceremony, Vedic rituals will be performed by sages from Varanasi as was done during the shifting of the idol of Ram Lalla from the sanctum sanctorum to a temporary structure, said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the spokesperson of Nritya Gopal Das.

Priests in Ayodhya have prepared an elaborate plan for the three-day event. Mahant Kamal Nayan Das said on Saturday, “We have suggested two auspicious dates — August 3 and 5 — for the prime minister’s visit based on calculations of movements of stars and planets.”

The decision about the tentative date was taken at a meeting of the Trust members held in Ayodhya on Saturday.

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court had on November 9 last year 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 in Uttar Pradesh.

(With inputs from agencies)