PM Modi is among the 175 people present at the ceremony.
Ayodhya Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ayodhya today for the grand ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Modi is among the 175 people present at the ceremony. He is sharing the dais with just four other people — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, trust chief Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and CM Yogi Adityanath. Keeping in mind the pandemic, seating arrangements are made in accordance with social distancing principles.
PM Modi will unveil a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the temple, followed by the release of a commemorative postage stamp on ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’. After the event, Modi would address the gathering before leaving for the helipad.
Before this, the prime minister along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi. Modi also paid a visit to Ram Janmabhoomi.
Ahead of the ceremony, Ayodhya has been decked up. The city has been painted yellow – an auspicious colour of knowledge and learning. On Tuesday, prayers were offered to the nishan (flag) of Lord Hanuman, revered as the protector of the city. Starting Tuesday, all local temples started a continuous Akhand Ramayan recitation with temples and homes being lit as in Diwali. The same will continue August 5 night.
A computerised 3D view of the Ram temple
Fire brigade personnel sanitise the area near Saket Degree College ahead of the ground breaking ceremony for the Ram Temple, in Ayodhya. (Photo: PTI)
Workers clean Ram Ki Paidi in Ayodhya. (Photo: PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers to Ram Lalla
At the Hanuman Garhi temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was gifted a headgear, a silver crown and a stole with the name of Lord Ram printed on it. “Prime Minister Modi is coming and it is a matter of pride for Ayodhya. Many Prime Ministers took office but none apart from Prime Minister Modi came for laying the foundation stone for Ram temple," the head priest of the temple said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ram Janmabhoomi today, ahead of the grand ground-breaking ceremony in Ayodhya. Before this, the prime minister along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi. Modi is among the 175 people who will be present at the ceremony. He will share the dais with just four other people — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, trust chief Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and CM Yogi Adityanath.
Flanked by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the Hanuman Garhi temple, where he is scheduled to spend about seven minutes. He is subsequently expected to visit the makeshift Ram Lalla temple, made of wood and glass, and offer flowers to the deity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ayodhya for the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Temple. He was received by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Social distancing protocols were maintained as circles were drawn for the leaders and both were seen wearing masks.
Ahead of the Ram temple "bhoomi pujan", BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday credited the Supreme Court for paving the way for its construction in Ayodhya and advised all to accept the decision. "As everyone knows, Ayodhya is a holy city of different religions. But it had been embroiled in a controversy for years due to Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid land dispute. The dispute was ended by the Supreme Court and it has also stopped to some extent politics around it played by some political parties," Mayawati said in a series of tweets in Hindi. "Due to the SC verdict, foundation of Ram temple is being laid and a lot of its credit goes to the SC. BSP from the beginning said that it would accept the SC decision. It should be accepted by all. This is advice of BSP," she added.
In an opinion piece in The Indian Express, PB Mehta writes, "Today, those who waged war in your name will consecrate your temple at Ayodhya. They are describing this as the ultimate act of devotion to you, the ultimate obeisance to your sovereignty. They are, they say, reclaiming hallowed ground, desecrated by barbarous invaders. They are describing this as a cathartic overcoming of Hindu humiliation. They are describing this as a new renaissance for Ram Rajya. You will now be the symbol of a community united in strength, full of a new found pride. It will be said, secretly, this is restoring wholeness to a broken culture. But I know I will not find you there. This is because what is being consecrated is a monument to a violent, collective narcissism."
Chandrakant Sompura, 77, had started work on the temple to Ram Lalla in Ayodhya 30 years ago, after he first visited the site with then Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) president Ashok Singhal. From then to today, August 5, is the longest time a project commissioned to the Sompuras has taken for the ground-breaking, says the patriarch, whose family has designed around 200 temples in India and abroad. “Usually we see the bhoomi poojan happen within 2-3 years,” says Sompura, who will be watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi perform the shilanyas of the temple live, on television.
Sompura had drawn up 2-3 plans for the temple, one of which was approved by the VHP, which had then taken up the task of building the temple. A wooden model was made, and at the Kumbh Mela that followed, the model was placed before the assembled sadhus, who gave their approval. Sompura recalls that before the Babri Masjid was razed, then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had called him to ask if he would make an alternative plan for the temple to Lord Ram while keeping the mosque.
Among their projects have been the private temple in the Ambani home at Antilla in Mumbai. The family has built the Akshardham temples in the country. Read more
Days after Uma Bharti said she will skip the ceremony, the BJP leader today said that she will infact attend the ceremony as instructed by Ramjanmabhoomi Trust. Bharti on Monday had said she would not attend the ground breaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5. Instead, Bharti said she would be on the banks of the Saryu river and visit the site and offer prayers to ‘Ram Lalla’ after the event had concluded.
Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel and BJP National Vice President Uma Bharti arrive at Ram Janambhoomi site ahead of the ceremony
With the pandemic having put paid to the Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s desire to have “all those who participated in the 77th revolution of the temple in 1984” attend Wednesday’s Ram temple groundbreaking ceremony, 175 people are being invited for the event, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the chief guest to initiate it. According to the Trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, the invitees include 135 religious leaders from 36 spiritual traditions across the country. The other invitees include Union and state ministers, BJP leaders, RSS office-bearers and dignitaries connected to the VHP, among others
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya in a curtailed ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ ceremony today. The event marks the beginning of the construction of a grand Ram temple in the temple town. Here's the timeline of events from Babri Masjid to Ram Temple
The Uttar Pradesh Information Department on Tuesday put out a detailed itinerary for the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ram temple at Ayodhya, starting with prayers being offered to Lord Ganesha at 12.30 pm by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be followed by worship of the main shila made of silver, the worship of the land on which the temple will be built, and prayers to other eight smaller shilas, including the koormshila or shila of a turtle. The last will be right under where the idol of Ram Lalla will be kept at the temple. Between “exactly” 12.44 pm and 12.45 pm, a lotus flower made of “five elements” and decorated with nine stones will be kept on the koormshila — marking the “pratishthapayami (installation)”.
Modi is scheduled to arrive at Lucknow airport at 10.35 am and fly down to the Saket Degree College helipad in Ayodhya at 11.30 am. His first stop will be the Hanuman Garhi temple where, after a seven-odd-minute stay, he will reach Ram Janmabhoomi area by noon and offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple.
The new design was finalised in a meeting of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body formed to facilitate construction of Ram temple, on July 18.
In the new design, three domes have been added — one in front, and two at the sides. The number of columns have gone up from about 160 to 366; and the width of the stairway has been expanded from 6 feet to 16 feet.
The sanctum sanctorum will be octagonal in keeping with the design by shastras for temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad shares the sketch from the original document of the Constitution of India showing Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman returning to Ayodhya after defeating Ravan.
Modi is scheduled to arrive at Lucknow airport at 10.35 am and fly down to the Saket Degree College helipad in Ayodhya at 11.30 am. His first stop will be the Hanuman Garhi temple where, after a seven-odd-minute stay, he will reach Ram Janmabhoomi area by noon and offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple.
L K Advani, the man who converted a local legal dispute into a national movement for the construction of the Ram Temple and infused it with the political capital that catapulted the BJP to power, will not be present when Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone for the temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday.
“Destiny made me perform a pivotal duty in the form of the Ram Rath Yatra,” Advani said on Tuesday, the eve of the ground-breaking ceremony. A year after the Palampur resolution of 1989, in which the BJP adopted the building of a temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya as its political plank, Advani led the Yatra that galvanised the movement for the temple and split Indian politics into a deep and bitter secular-communal divide. “Sometimes significant dreams in one’s life take a long time to fruition, but when they are finally realised, the wait becomes very worthwhile. One such dream, close to my heart is now getting fulfilled,” the 92-year-old Advani said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust set up to build and run the temple, said soil from more than 1,500 holy places and water from more than 2,000 such sites, including rivers, has reached Ayodhya. These places, according to the Trust, include Haldighati and Chittor Fort (linked to Maharana Pratap), Golden Temple in Amritsar, Vaishno Devi in Jammu, the Satti Chaura ghat in Kanpur and the fort of Nana Saheb nearby (both sites of the 1857 mutiny), Ravidas Temple in Varanasi and all the ‘Jyotirlings’.
According to the Trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, although the main programme will take place today, prayers and worship had begun 108 days ago—on April 18—with regular recitation of the Vedas, Vastu, Grah, Nakshatra shanti path, Shri Ram naam paath, Hanuman naam paath and havan.
On Tuesday, prayers were offered to the nishan (flag) of Lord Hanuman, revered as the protector of the city. Prakash Sharma, former national convener of the Bajrang Dal and one of the organisers, said prayers were also offered at Ram Lalla. Starting Tuesday, all local temples started a continuous Akhand Ramayan recitation with temples and homes being lit as in Diwali. The same will continue August 5 night. On Monday, Champat Rai, said 175 people would attend the bhoomi pujan, including 135 saints.
Construction of the temple will begin after Wednesday’s programme and members of the Trust said that it will be ready in six months to a year.