Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony To Take Place Over 3 days Beginning Jan 21

The temple trust will hold the consecration ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 21, 22, and 23 next year, a trust member said on Friday.

The trust members had earlier said they would be sending an official invite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event. ''The consecration ceremony of Ram Janmabhoomi will take place in the third week of January next year. Three dates - 21, 22, and 23 of January have been fixed for the consecration ceremony. We will invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ceremony which will also be attended by prominent sadhus and other dignitaries,'' Ram Mandir Trust General Secretary Champat Rai told PTI. ''The main event would be kept non-political. Guests from different political parties will also be invited, provided they have the intention to come. There will be no stage in the programme nor any public meeting,'' he said.

The trust plans to invite over 25,000 Hindu religious leaders of 136 Sanatan traditions for the ceremony.

A list of such saints is being prepared by the temple trust and soon an invitation letter will be sent to them with the signature of trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, he said. ''The trust has planned to accommodate all prominent saints in the big monasteries of Ayodhya,'' Rai said.

These 25,000 saints will be separate from 10,000 ''special guests'' who will attend the consecration ceremony inside the premise of Ram Janmabhoomi The Bhoomi Pujan programme for temple was held on August 5, 2020 on a very limited scale due to the COVID-19 guidelines.

''The sanctum sanctorum of Ramlala is nearing completion. Now in the month of January the preparation for the grand event of 'Pran Pratishtha' is on in full swing,'' said Anil Misra, a temple trust member.

The trust is planning to provide free food for about a month to the devotees coming for the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

According to Rai, the trust would be feeding 75,000-1,00,000 people every day for the whole month of January.