Ayodhya: The bhoomi pujan (ground breaking) ceremony for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is set to to take place around noon today with Prime Minster Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat among the 162 people expected to attend the function.
Earlier, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust planned to invite 267 people, but the list was later trimmed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
None of the five faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of the 1980s and 90s — Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar, will be present at the event.
On the eve of the occasion, Advani said it was his belief that the Ram Mandir will represent India as a strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation and truly usher in “Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance”.
Religious rituals were already underway Monday, two days ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony. Barricades were in place in the temple town and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had issued an appeal, asking only those invited for the ceremony to come to Ayodhya.
The Ayodhya administration said it was going to ensure at least eight-foot distance in the seating arrangement.
However, amid the preparations, a priest at the Ram Janmabhoomi premises, Prem Kumar Tiwari tested positive for Covid Monday.
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Read the latest updates here:
09:50 am: Prasad being distributed among people on the streets of Ayodhya.
09:40 am: PM Narendra Modi leaves for Ayodhya to take part in the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan event.
09:35 am: Indian community members gathered outside the Capitol Hill in Washington DC to celebrate the event.
USA: Members of the Indian community gathered outside the Capitol Hill in Washington DC to celebrate the foundation laying ceremony of #RamTemple in #Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/NofEWuM3E5
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2020
09:14 am: The Ram Janmabhoomi movement goes back centuries, and has been mired in politics, controversy, legal issues and violence. Read the 10 important milestones that led to this point here.
09:00 am:
08:36 am: “The Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan is the victory of truth and of all the kar sevaks who sacrificed their lives in the movement,” said Vishwa Hindu Parishad central secretary Ashok Tiwari in an interview with ThePrint’s Neelam Pandey and Suraj Singh Bisht.
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