Ram Temple's consecration ceremony likely on Jan 22

New Delhi: The consecration ceremony of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya is expected to take place on January 22 next year, temple construction committee chairperson Nripendra Mishra said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate in the event related to the 'pran pratishtha' on any day during January 20-24, Mishra said. The final date is yet to communicated to the Prime Minister's Office, he added. Mishra said that the construction of the ground floor of the three-storey temple will be completed by December-end and the temple in Ayodhya is likely to open for devotees on January 24 after the consecration of Ram Lalla idol. He added that work is under way to design an apparatus that will be installed on the 'shikhar' of the temple.

The apparatus will make the sun rays fall momentarily on the forehead of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum on the day of Ram Navami every year. It is being built in Bengaluru and its design is being overseen by scientists, he added. The Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, and an institute in Pune have jointly created a computerised programme for this, Mishra said. In a landmark verdict in 2019, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

It had also directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town of Uttar Pradesh.

The court had ruled that the 2.77 acres of the disputed land where the demolished 16th century-era Babri Masjid once stood will remain with a Central government receiver and be handed over to the trust within three months of the ruling for the construction of the temple.

The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will formally invite Prime Minister Modi for the consecration ceremony during which the idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

The temple trust has decided to start the process of the consecration of Ram Lalla after Makar Sankranti on January 14, and observe a 10-day ritual of Ram Lalla's 'pran pratishtha' (consecration).