The consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will to take place on January 22 during the ‘Mrigashira Nakshatra’, Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janambhoomi Trust said on Wednesday. Earlier today, the trust leaders met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and invited him to install the idol of Lord Ram in the ‘Garbhagriha’ of the Ram Temple.

“Today along with members of Shri Ram Janambhoomi Trust we met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have invited him (PM Modi) to come on January 22 to install the idol of Lord Ram in the Garbhagriha. He has accepted our request. He will be present on January 22. The date for ‘Pran Pratishtha’ on January 22 is confirmed,” news agency ANI quoted Champat Rai as saying.

Reacting to invitation of the ceremony, Prime Minister Modi said that it was a day full of emotions and that he felt “very blessed” with the fact that he will witness the historic occasion.

“I feel very blessed. It is my good fortune that in my lifetime, I will witness this historic occasion,” PM Modi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Today is a day full of emotions. Recently the officials of Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi Tirtha Kshetra had come to meet me at my residence. They invited me to come to Ayodhya on the occasion of consecration of Shri Ram temple,” PM Modi said in the post in Hindi, and shared a picture of his meeting with the temple trust’s functionaries.

जय सियाराम!

आज का दिन बहुत भावनाओं से भरा हुआ है। अभी श्रीराम जन्मभूमि तीर्थ क्षेत्र ट्रस्ट के पदाधिकारी मुझसे मेरे निवास स्थान पर मिलने आए थे। उन्होंने मुझे श्रीराम मंदिर में प्राण-प्रतिष्ठा के अवसर पर अयोध्या आने के लिए निमंत्रित किया है।

मैं खुद को बहुत धन्य महसूस कर रहा… pic.twitter.com/rc801AraIn

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 25, 2023

In 2019, a five-judge Supreme Court bench-led by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi delivered a landmark judgment in the Ayodhya land dispute case and ruled in favour the Ram Janmabhoomi. The court ruled that there will be Ram Mandir at the disputed site and Muslims will be given an alternate 5 acre land for their mosque.

Following the top court verdict, the Centre set up the Shri Ram Janambhoomi Trust to take decisions during the construction phase. A foundation stone of the Ram Temple was laid by Prime Minister Modi on August 5, 2020.

According to media reports, the Shri Ram Janambhoomi Trust will invite around 10,000 “special guests” to attend the mega ceremony. Moreover, the trust will invite over 25,000 Hindu religious leaders from across the country for the consecration ceremony also known as “pran pratishta”.