With just a few months left for the Ram Temple inauguration or Pran Pratishtha ceremony in January, Nripendra Misra, temple’s construction committee chairperson and former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, told News18 that nearly 1.5 lakh people are expected to visit the Ram Temple in the first few days of its inauguration.
When asked who will be attending the ceremony, Misra said the decision will be taken sometime by the end of November or by middle of December. “The entire ceremony will begin sometime after January 14. It normally should take 7-10 days, and it will all be decided by the so-called specialist saints who are responsible for this entire work of imparting the life into the idol,” Misra told News18.
Around 2,000 saints, 5,000-6,000 guests from different walks of life will be attending the inauguration ceremony.
“On the day of the Prime Minister’s arrival, we are expecting a gathering of 8,000 to 10,000 people,” Misra added. Those who will come to Ayodhya may want to visit Varanasi, Prayagraj and Mathura.
“The state government is doing a lot of development work which will be completed by December. A series of trains, airport would be functional by October and middle of November. We are expecting that commercial flights would fly by middle of December,” Misra told News18.
He further said the day of completion of the works will be matched with the arrival of PM Narendra Modi. “The office bearers of the trust have made a request to the PM’s office to meet him personally and extend the personal invitation”. The date of PM’s programme will be announced by first week of December.
In the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, which will take place on January 22, the deity of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum. In addition, another idol, which is presently being carved, and three different sculptures made by a professor at the Banaras university, will also be installed.
When the Supreme Court verdict on the construction of Ram Temple was given in June in 2019, the Prime Minister had said there should be “no misplaced euphoria. There has to be no winner, no loser,” Misra pointed out.
“The judgment said there will be a trust which will be autonomous. At present, the trust is headed by Nritya Gopal Das, and general secretary is Champat Rai ji… The judgment also envisaged and said the construction will be headed by the chief of the construction committee,” he added.
He further said the collection of Rs 3,500 crore for the temple trust has come through donations from 4 lakh villages. Around 25,000 ‘sevaks’ were requested to contact the villagers for the funds.
Meanwhile, Misra also spoke on the recent Sanatan Dharma controversy kicked up Udhayanidhi Stalin. “My own opinion is that Sanatan is the way of life. The entire country is in some way or the other Sanatani in that kind of spirit. It only means that you love your human beings, worship your God, whom you believe in, and tolerate. That’s what Sanatan tells you. My personal belief is that Sanatan Dharma has provided stability to this country. Let me assure you that the controversy has not touched Ayodhya. Not a single man there is even bothered about it,” he said.
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