UP: Vedic priests to place silver brick at ‘garbh griha’ to mark ‘bhoomi pujan’

AYODHYA: From the security blueprint to minutest Vedic details of ‘bhoomi pujan’, elaborate preparations have begun in Ayodhya for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Ramjanmabhoomi on August 5. Sources in the Ram temple trust said, the PM will touch down in Ayodhya between 11-11:30am and lay the foundation of the temple at 12:13pm — an auspicious time drawn by priests after detailed calculation of planetary configurations.
Vedic rituals, recital of hymns and mantras will begin at 8am and continue till 1:10pm, said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, spokesman of temple trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

The rituals, however, will span three days from August 3 and culminate in the ‘bhoomi pujan’ with the placing of a 40 kg silver brick at the garbh grih (sanctum sanctorum) by Vedic scholars and priests from Varanasi, he said.“Since the shifting of Ram Lalla idols in March from the makeshift structure to the current abode was done by Kashi priests, the bhoomi pujan too will be performed by them. The Ramacharya puja will be conducted on August 4,” Mahant Kamal Nayan Das told TOI.
“Going by the tentative information received by us, the prime minister will visit Ayodhya on August 5. The ceremony will be ‘bhoomi pujan’, not ‘shilanyas’, which was already performed in 1989 by current Trust member Kameshwar Chaupal during the tenure of then PM Rajiv Gandhi,” said Triloki Nath Pandey, decree holder of Ramjanmabhoomi.
Anil Mishra, a member of Trust said that a formal invite has been sent to the PM, but there was no official confirmation of his schedule.