Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, 28 years after the demolition of Babri Masjid at the same spot. The bhoomi pujan event is scheduled to start at 12.45 p.m.
Mr. Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will be among the five persons on stage at the bhoomi pujan ceremony for which over 170 guests have been invited by the Trust entrusted with the construction of the temple.
Here are the updates:
Sculptors await green signal for 251-m Ram statue
As the countdown to the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya begins, eminent sculptor Ram Sutar and his son Anil Sutar are eager to get a green signal from the Uttar Pradesh government to give a final shape to the statue of Lord Ram which will be erected on the banks of Saryu river.
A replica of the statue at the workshop of the Sutars.
“In 2018, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had selected our specimen of the statue but after that, we haven’t heard from the officials,” said Mr. Anil, speaking for his 95-year-old father. At 251 metres, he said it is going to be the tallest statue in the world. “During our meeting, the CM said he wanted the statue to be totally indigenous and we promised him the same,” said Mr. Anil.
The Ram statue, he said, would be seen holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in another.
Over 170 invitees to witness the ceremony
As many as 175 guests, including 135 seers, are expected to attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple.
Besides PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, leading lights of Hindutva movement including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, are part of the guest list.
Baba Ramdev greets Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the venue for the Ram Temple bhoomi pujan event. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Two prominent Muslim names, Iqbal Ansari, the former litigant in the Babri Masjid case, and Mohammad Shareef, who was awarded the Padma Shri for years of performing last rites of unclaimed bodies, have also been invited. - Omar Rashid
PM Modi's itinerary
Prior to the ground-breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Modi will take part in ‘pooja’ and ‘darshan’ at Hanumangarhi, a statement by the PMO said on Tuesday.
From Hanumangarhi, the PM will travel to ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi’ where he will take part in pooja and darshan of ‘Bhagwan Shree Ramlala Virajman’.
He will also plant a Parijat (Indian night jasmine) sapling. Mr. Modi will subsequently perform ‘bhoomi poojan’, the statement said.
He will unveil a plaque to mark the laying of foundation stone and also release a commemorative postage stamp on the ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’. - PTI
PM leaves for Ayodhya to lay foundation stone of Ram temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning left for Ayodhya where he will lay the foundation stone of Ram temple.
The Prime Minister’s Office shared a picture of Modi boarding an Air Force plane. He was dressed in traditional dhoti-kurta.
“PM Narendra Modi leaves for Ayodhya,” the PMO tweeted.
A helicopter would fly him to Ayodhya from Lucknow. - PTI
Watch | The road to the Ram Temple
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on November 9 delivered its judgment in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute.
In a unanimous decision, the five-Judge Bench allotted the disputed land for the construction of a temple. The Sunni Waqf Board will be given five acres of alternative land in a suitable, prominent place in Ayodhya.
A historical and emotional day, says Advani
On the eve of the bhoomi poojan (ground breaking) ceremony for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, considered one of main protagonists of the Ram temple movement, and whose invitation to the ceremony is still shrouded in confusion, released a statement terming the proposed temple as one that would usher in Ram Rajya in India and as a representation of a “strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation” with “justice for all and exclusion of none”.
Mr. Advani, who led a Rath Yatra drumming up mass support for the movement in the early 1990s and was arrested in Bihar subsequently, is considered one of the main architects of the movement, but will not be attending the ceremony in person on Wednesday. Aides were unclear whether he would be attending it via video conference.