India celebrated the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Temple on Monday (January 22, 2024) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing the rituals and ensuring his Bharatiya Janata Party deliver a 35-year-old promise, which many believe will give a strong point to the ruling outfit ahead of the national polls this year.
At the centre of the consecration ceremony and the celebration was the Ram Lalla idol crafted by Mysore-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj.
Thousands of people braved the dip in Mercury and thronged the temple premises since it opened for the mass on Tuesday to catch a glimpse of the idol, as authorities faced a tough time managing the crowd.
Interestingly, there were two other Ram Lalla idols which were crafted for installations in the sanctum sanctorum but it was Arun Yogiraj’s 51-inch creation, built from Krishna Shile, that found its place in the holy ‘garbha griha’.
One of the idols, sculpted by 65-year-old Satyanarayan Pandey from Rajasthan, has been revealed now and reportedly it will be installed on the first floor of the temple.
Speaking on the white marble idol of Ram Lalla he created, the sculptor told The Week: “I meditated on the form, aligned it with what the shastras said about the Lord’s beauty, drew inspiration from satsang (spiritual discourse), went deep into my heart, tapped into the lifelong bhakti I have had, applied my mind to it, cried to Hanuman for inspiration and then the Lord’s form appeared before me.”
When he was asked if he felt disappointed after his idol was not selected, the artist said a true devotee of Lord Ram cannot have grudges.
He told the magazine that he “can only be happy that a struggle of 500 years has come to an end. That the sacrifice of so many has borne fruit. This idol too will find its place”.
The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said the two idols which were not selected will also be installed inside the temple complex.
Vinod Bansal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad told The Indian Express, “We have respectfully accepted all the three idols, even though only one could have made it to the Garbha Griha.”
Nripendra Mishra, the chairman of the temple construction committee, told the same news outlet: “All the three sculptors have been compensated by the trust for their efforts, which ran into months.”
PM Modi inaugurates Ram Temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the much-awaited Ram Temple and unveiled the Ram Lalla idol in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.
Modi was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the rituals, which were performed by the Prime Minister.
From celebrities to politicians and seers, Ayodhya was overwhelmed by people from far and wide to witness a momentous religious event that will mark the course of Indian politics apart in coming days besides being a watershed event in Hinduism. Many of the rich and famous arrived in private jets for the ceremony.
A majority of Hindus claimed that the site was the birthplace of Lord Ram before Muslim Mughals razed a temple at the spot to build the Babri Masjid.
In a landmark verdict in 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to the Hindu community and ordered to allot a separate plot to Muslims.