All eyes are on India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has returned to Ayodhya after 29 years, will perform the ‘Shila Pujan’, ‘Bhumi Pujan’ and ‘Karma Shila Pujan’ of the proposed Ram temple today.
According to an official statement, the main ‘puja’ will be held between 12.44 pm and 12.45 pm during the 32-second ‘Abhijit Muhurat’. It is the same ‘muhurat’ or auspicious moment when Lord Ram was believed to have been born.
The Uttar Pradesh government has said that PM Modi is the first prime minister to visit ram janmabhoomi.
The guest list has been severely restricted in view of the Coronavirus pandemic. Besides PM Modi, 50 VIPs including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will attend the ceremony.
PM Modi and four other persons — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Ram Mandir Trust Chief Nritya Gopaldas, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath — will be on the stage for the mega event.
In view of the grand ceremony, security has been heightened in Uttar Pradesh and the bordering areas.
The Uttar Pradesh police and Sashastra Seema Bal have been put on high alert in the districts bordering Nepal ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ayodhya.
Security has also been tightened and vigil increased across Karnataka.
Meanwhile, the design of the planned Ram Temple in Ayodhya was released on Tuesday by the trust overseeing its construction.
A series of images showed a grand three-storey stone structure on a raised platform with multiple turrets, pillars and domes. The temple will be 161 feet tall and almost double the size of what was originally planned, according to its architect.
The temple, to be constructed in Nagara style of architecture, will have five domes instead of two as envisaged earlier to accommodate more number of devotees, the architect said.
According to him, the project is likely to be completed in the next three years once the work commences.
In November last year, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and 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 in Uttar Pradesh.