Ram Mandir: Can 'Pran Pratishtha' Be Performed With Incomplete Construction Of Temple?

A debate over Ram Mandir inauguration started after Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati claimed that the installation of the idol of Lord Ram without the completion of the construction of the temple was against the Hindu religion.

"It is a shankaracharya's duty to follow rituals of the shastras and ensure that they are followed. And here, the shastras are being ignored. The biggest problem is that the consecration is being done when the temple is still incomplete," he said.

This has left many wondering whether the 'Pran Pratishtha' of an idol has been performed in a temple which is yet to be completed.

What Author Amish Tripathi?
Author Amish Tripathi, who has done an extensive study on Hindu scripture, said, "My understanding is, in ancient times temples would be built over many decades, at the beginning of the construction of the temple itself a ceremony happens to mark out the 'Garbha Griha', the second pooja happens where the idol is placed in the sanctum sanctorium after its construction is complete, and once that is done 'Pran Pratishtha' can be done."

Tripathi said that consecration is a Western term and it is when you make something divine. "In Hinduism, everything is already divine. 'Pran Pratishtha' is when a particular type of 'Devi' or 'Dev' that was there, that force is infused into the idol. At Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha', it would be taken into account that Lord Ram is depicted as a child," he told ANI.

Constructed in the traditional Nagara style, the temple complex will span 380 feet in length (east-west direction), 250 feet in width, and will rise to a height of 161 feet.

It is a three-storied building of which the ground floor has been already completed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly constructed temple. Apart from the PM, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, UP Governor Anandi Ben Patel, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, and President of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra have been invited.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent over 6,000 invitation cards to individuals nationwide for the grand consecration ceremony of 'Ram Lalla.' The invitations have been extended to a diverse group of guests.