Consecration rituals begin at Ram temple in Ayodhya
Ayodhya: The run-up to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony here on January 22 began on Tuesday with a series of rituals, led by a member of the temple trust and his wife.
These rituals will reach their finale with the consecration or ‘pran pratishtha’ of the idol of Ram Lalla at the new temple in Ayodhya.
“The ‘anushthan’ has started and will continue till January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony. Eleven priests are performing the rituals invoking all goddesses and gods,” Ram temple chief priest Satyendra Das said.
The ‘yajman’ at the rituals – including the ones to be conducted on the final consecration days – is trust member Anil Mishra and his wife Usha Mishra.
Typically, the ‘yajman’ is the main “host” of a “puja” – the person on whose behalf the prayers are offered. Mishra has to attend the rituals on all days, including on January 22 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present. Mishra confirmed that he is the “yajman” for the ceremony.
Earlier, there was a debate if Modi is entitled to adopt the role, which usually goes to a “householder”.
Modi is scheduled to deliver a speech at the end of the consecration ceremony, expected to be attended by 8,000 guests. But only a handful of them will be allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The trust said there are seven adhivasas in the ‘pran pratishtha’ and a minimum of three adhivasas are in practice.
There are 121 ‘acharyas’ who are conducting the rituals and Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid is overseeing, coordinating and directing all proceedings of the “anushthan”. The principal ‘acharya’ will be Laxmikant Dixit of Kashi.
Over the next week, rituals like ‘teerth poojan’, ‘jal yatra’ and ‘gandhadhivas’ will take place. On Monday, the ‘prayaschita’ and ‘karmakuti poojan’ took place.
The Ram temple ‘pran pratishtha’ will begin at 12.20 pm on January 22 and is expected to end by 1 pm, temple trust general secretary Champat Rai told reporters on Monday.
In a bid to ensure robust security arrangements for the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony, 10,000 CCTV cameras have been installed in the entire Ayodhya district and multilingual policemen in plain clothes will be deployed at the venue, officials said on Tuesday.
“The Uttar Pradesh police has made elaborate security arrangements and along with it, security has been ensured for every road along the entire red zone, yellow zone and Ayodhya district,” Director General (DG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, said.
“We have converted all the major roads coming towards Ayodhya into green corridors so that traffic is not disrupted. Heavy traffic has been diverted around Ayodhya since January 18 and traffic advisory has also been issued in this regard,” he said.
To ensure better security arrangements at the programme venue, technology is being used on a large scale. “For this, 10,000 CCTV cameras have been installed in the entire Ayodhya district. In some of these CCTV cameras, we are using AI-based technology so that we can maintain a strict vigil on the commuters,” the DG said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister on Tuesday visited the historic Veerabhadra temple in Lepakshi and offered prayers. The temple has immense significance in Ramayana with its Jatayu episode.
Modi chanted songs in praise of Lord Ram, listened to special hymns sung in Telugu extolling the deity, and also witnessed a puppet show on the epic Ramayana featuring Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Ravana, according to live visuals streamed on an official YouTube channel.
The PM offered special prayers at the temple, located in Sri Satyasai district of Andhra Pradesh. The shrine has immense significance in Ramayana and the Hindu religion and his visit comes exactly six days prior to the consecration ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Besides participating in the rituals, guides also explained the significance of the temple to the Prime Minister.
The legend has it that Lepakshi is the place where the mythical vulture Jatayu fell after being grievously wounded by demon king Ravana who had abducted Sita.
Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the apex court in a historic verdict in 2019 backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town
Prime Minister Modi performed the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the temple in August 2020, bringing to fruition the BJP’s ‘mandir’ movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
Chitra faces attack from social media
Thiruvananthapuram: National award-winning playback singer KS Chitra has come under social media attack for her recent video message urging people to chant Lord Ram hymns during the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.
However, all major political parties, including the ruling CPI(M), opposition Congress and the BJP denounced the attack and extended support to her, saying that she has the right to express her opinion.
In a brief video circulated on social media platforms in the last two days, the eminent singer asked everyone to chant the ‘Sri Rama, Jaya Rama, Jaya Jaya Rama’ mantra at 12.20 pm, when the consecration ceremony is held.