31,ooo diyas to markcentury of Poddareshwar Mandir

Nagpur: The Poddareshwar Ram Mandir will be celebrating its 100th year in March with innovative events. The trademark Ram Janmotsava Shobhayatra will also resume this year.
The celebrations will start on March 1 with 'Deep Darshan', a unique event. Lights of the temple will be off on Wednesday evening as 21,000 earthen lamps will be lit. Idols of deities will be illuminated because of the light of earthen lamps from 5pm until midnight.
Temple trustees said such darshans are common in many temples in South India.
The Ram Jhula bridge, which starts from the main gate of the Poddareshwar temple, will be decorated with 31,000 earthen lamps on March 4 to mark the calendar date of the temple's inaugural day in 1923.
Marking on Ram Jhula will start from 5pm on March 2. Lamps will be placed on marked spots from 5pm on March 3. They will be filled with oil and camphor from noon on March 4, and will be lit in the evening.
The mandir is near the railway station. Janmnadhar Poddar, who came to Nagpur from Rajasthan to establish Empress Mills, decided to construct this temple in 1919. Being a family temple of the Poddars, it was called Poddareshwar Ram Mandir. Completed in 1923, the temple was inaugurated on March 4.
Idols were specially carved in stone by Jaipur's well-known sculptor Govindram Udairam. The architecture is octagonal and apart from Lord Rama, Seeta and Laxmana, the temple has idols of Lord Hanuman, Garuda, Sugriva, Ganga, Mahalaxmi, Laxmi-Narayan, and also a Shiva shrine.
The temple organizes the Shobhayatra on Ram Navmi. Nagpurians, irrespective of religion and beliefs, participate in the Shobhayatra.