'Hindu Hriday Samrat' Modi reaches Ayodhya after nearly 3 decades

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ayodhya on Wednesday as the entire nation awaited the bhumi pujan ceremony for the grand Ram Temple.

Dressed in traditional attire (dhoti and kurta) he alighted from his special aircraft a little after 11.30 a.m.

The 'Hindu Hriday Samrat', as he is often referred to as, will personally participate in the 'Bhumi Pujan' later in the day, in presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanatha and a slew of saints from across India.

Modi came back to the holy city after nearly 30 years.

He left from Delhi just around 10 a.m.

Modi is likely to spend around three hours in Ayodhya.

At 11.40 a.m., he will go to Hanuman Garhi temple where he will offer prayers for 10 minutes and then proceed to the Ram Janmabhoomi complex where he will offer prayers to Ram Lalla Virajman.

The Prime Minister will plant a 'Parijat' sapling at 12.10 p.m. in the temple complex and then proceed for the Bhumi Pujan ceremony.

The 'Bhumi Pujan' for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin at 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday with the Prime Minister performing the 'Shila Pujan', 'Bhumi Pujan' and 'Karma Shila Pujan'.

According to an official statement, the main 'puja' will be held between 12.44 p.m. and 12.45 p.m. during the 32-second 'Abhijit Muhurat'. It is the same 'muhurat' or auspicious moment when Lord Ram was believed to have been born.

The Prime Minister will lay a 40-kg silver brick to symbolise the start of the construction of the temple that is at the core of the ruling BJP's ideology and poll promises.

A campaign for the temple marked the rise of the saffron party in the 1990s, when Lal Krishna Advani took out a Rath Yatra from Somnath and former VHP leader Ashok Singhal gave a clarion call for 'Kar Seva', something that radically changed the political discourse of the country.