Four years after the landmark Supreme Court judgment, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be inaugurated on Monday, January 22. The mega event will witness over 7,000 people in attendance, including politicians, celebrities, industrialists, saints and around 100 representatives from different countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lead the Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony. The consecration ceremony is scheduled to take place between 12.20 pm and 1 pm on January 22.
The celebration won't be limited to India, as towns like Oakville and Brampton in Ontario, Canada, have declared the day as "Ayodhya Ram Mandir Day". The Indian-American community in North America is also preparing to celebrate this historic occasion with various events and rituals. Approximately 1,000 temples across the United States are organising events such as car rallies, cultural programs, and religious ceremonies.
The dispute over the land in Ayodhya, believed to be the Janmasthan or birthplace of Lord Ram, has been a source of contention for centuries, leading to numerous legal battles. Hindus believe that in the 16th century, Mughal emperor Babur built Babri Masjid on the very place where an ancient temple stood, marking the birthplace of Lord Ram.
The first recorded incident of violence over the site occurred in 1853, which eventually led the British colonial administration to erect a fence in 1859, separating the areas of worship for Muslims and Hindus.
In 1949, idols of Lord Ram and Sita were placed inside the mosque, leading to further tensions and the locking of the gates by the government. This act set off a series of lawsuits from both Hindu and Muslim organisations claiming rights over the site.
The legal battle intensified in the 1980s, with the opening of the Babri Masjid gates for Hindu worshippers in 1986 following a court order. On December 6, 1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished by a mob of Hindu activists, an event that led to widespread communal violence and further complicated the legal proceedings.
In 2010, the Allahabad High Court delivered a verdict that divided the disputed land into three parts: one-third to the Sunni Waqf Board, one-third to the Nirmohi Akhara, and one-third to the deity Ram Lalla Virajman.
This ruling was challenged, and on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment. The court ordered that the disputed 2.77 acres of land be transferred to a trust set up by the Indian government for the construction of the Ram Mandir. Additionally, the court directed that an alternate plot of five acres be provided to the Sunni Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque.
Along with PM Modi, the event will be graced by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others. Former and present Indian cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and others have also been invited to the ceremony.
Bollywood celebrities and other superstars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Madhuri Dixit, Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Prabhas, have been invited to the event.
The Ram Mandir Trust also sent invitations to several opposition leaders. However, the Opposition bloc INDIA have decided to boycott the event, accusing the ruling BJP and PM Modi of "politicising" the event.
The temple's design, rooted in the traditional Nagara style, features a length of 380 feet, a width of 250 feet, and a height of 161 feet. Designed by Chandrakant Sompura and his son Ashish, the temple complex spans 70 acres, with the main temple area covering 2.7 acres and a built-up area of about 57,000 square feet. The entire structure, valued at Rs 1,800 crore, has been financed by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which has collected over Rs 3,500 crore in donations from across India and abroad.
The Ram Lalla idol carved by Karnataka's renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj will be consecrated in the temple. The idol was installed inside the sanctum sanctorum on January 18 as part of the rituals in the run-up to the consecration ceremony.
The 51-inch, black-coloured-idol shows Lord Ram as a five-year-old child. All 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu are engraved on both sides of the idol. Besides this, the idol also has Hindu religious symbols carved on it like Om, Swastika, Chakra, Gada, and Shankh -- all linked to Lord Vishnu.
The current idol of Ram Lalla, which has been worshipped for the last 70 years, will also be kept in the sanctum sanctorum of the new temple.
In preparation for the inauguration, a series of religious events have unfolded, including the Parisar Pravesh of the Ram Lalla idol and various Vedic rituals, culminating in the grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the main 'yajman' and will perform the 'Pran Pratishtha' rituals, which are designed to infuse life into the idol of Lord Ram. This ritual symbolises the sacred union of the divine with the material world, bridging the gap between devotees and the deity.
A team of priests, led by Lakshmikant Dixit, will oversee the main rituals.
On January 12, the Prime Minister announced that he would commence a special 11-day 'anushthaan' till January 22. According to sources, PM Modi followed practices prescribed by sacred texts, including sleeping on the floor, consuming only coconut water, performing Gau-pooja (cow worship), and engaging in various forms of 'daan' such as 'annadaan' and donating clothes ahead of the ceremony.
The Prime Minister also visited several temples in different regions, including Ramkund and Shree Kalaram Temple in Nasik, Veerbhadra Temple in Lepakshi, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, and Guruvayur Temple and Triprayar Shree Ramaswami Temple in Kerala.
Several states and Union Territories across India, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Puducherry have declared public holidays or half-days to allow citizens to engage in the celebrations.
Central government offices and educational institutions will also be closed for half a day.
Markets will also remain closed on Monday, as both the National Stock Exchange and Reserve Bank of India have announced a hoilday for equity and money markets.
Ayodhya has been turned into a fortress ahead of the grand consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir. Hotels in the city are fully booked, and strict protocols have been established for the participation of VIPs and VVIPs.
Speaking to media, Uttar Pradesh DG (Law and Order), Prashant Kumar, said that besides the 13,000 forces deployed, cops are using artificial intelligence-powered CCTV to better the security system in Ayodhya. As many as 10,000 CCTV cameras have been installed across Ayodhya for 24x7 monitoring ahead of the 'Pran Pratistha'. There is also anti-drone technology.
Rapid Action Force (RPF) personnel have been deployed at the Lata Mangeshkar Chowk. Police are conducting boat patrols on River Sarayu at frequent intervals. Anti-bomb and dog squads have been deployed at Ayodhya's newly inaugurated Maharishi Valmiki International Airport as devotees and dignitaries started arriving in the city for the 'Pran Pratistha'.
Anti-bomb and dog squads have also been deployed, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has set up a camp near the shrine in Ayodhya to respond to contingencies, if any.
(With inputs from agencies)