Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday commended the countrymen for the ‘bhumi pujan’ ceremony of the grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya slated during the day and said Lord Ram’s blessings will end hunger, illiteracy and poverty making India the most powerful nation in the world.

“Congratulations to the entire country on the occasion of Bhumi Pujan. May the blessings of Lord Rama be with us. With his blessings, our country will get rid of hunger, illiteracy and poverty and make India the most powerful nation in the world. May India give direction to the world in times to come. Jai Shri Ram, Jai Bajrang Bali,” Kejriwal said in a tweet (in Hindi).

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भूमि पूजन के मौक़े पर पूरे देश को बधाई

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भगवान राम का आशीर्वाद हम पर बना रहे। उनके आशीर्वाद से हमारे देश को भुखमरी, अशिक्षा और ग़रीबी से मुक्ति मिले और भारत दुनिया का सबसे शक्तिशाली राष्ट्र बने। आने वाले समय में भारत दुनिया को दिशा दे।

जय श्री राम! जय बजरंग बली!

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 5, 2020

Meanwhile, the ‘bhumi pujan’ for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin at 12.30 pm today with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing the ‘Shila Pujan’, ‘Bhumi Pujan’ and ‘Karma Shila Pujan’.

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 Prime Minister will lay a 40-kg silver brick to symbolise the start of construction of the temple that is at the core of the ruling BJP’s ideology and poll promises. A campaign for the temple marked the rise of the party to the national spotlight in the 1990s.

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.

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement’s guiding force and BJP patriarch LK Advani will attend the ceremony virtually.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had on Saturday invited Advani and veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi via phone calls.

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.