Ayodhya is all set to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday for the sixth Deepotsav, which is expected to break a Guinnes World Record with 18 lakh earthen lamps being lit in the temple town in Uttar Pradesh on the eve of the festive occasion of Diwali.
All roads leading to Ram Janmabhoomi have been decked up to welcome PM Modi. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will receive the PM at the makeshift helipad at the Saket Post Graduate Degree College between 3.45pm and 4.20pm, people familiar with the matter said.
PM Modi’s first stop-over will be Ram Janmabhoomi, where he will perform the aarti of Ram Lalla. He presided over the bhoomi pujan of Ram temple on August 5, 2020.
“All preparations have been made for a special puja ceremony at Ram Janmabhoomi on PM’s visit,” said Acharya Satyendra Das, head priest of the temple.
Adityanath and members of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust will apprise the PM about the ongoing construction work of Ram Mandir.
PM Modi will also perform a symbolic coronation of Ram Lalla at the Ram Katha Park and will attend Saryu aarti at the banks of river Saryu.
{{/usCountry}}PM Modi will also perform a symbolic coronation of Ram Lalla at the Ram Katha Park and will attend Saryu aarti at the banks of river Saryu.
{{/usCountry}}For the grand finale of the Deepotsav celebration, the Prime Minister will reach Ram Ki Paidi ghat, where he will light an earthen lamp.
Thereafter, around 18,000 volunteers at Ram Ki Paidi and 37 other ghats will light 15 lakh earthen lamps to set a Guinness World Record.
The Ayodhya administration had set a Guinness World Record by lighting 9,41,551 diyas at the Deepotsav last year. But this record was broken on Mahashivratri on the banks of the Shipra river in Ujjain by lighting 11,71,78 diyas. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government launched the Deepotsav celebrations in Ayodhya after it came to power in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017.
PM Modi will also attend a laser show at Ram Ki Paidi ghat in which several episodes from Ramayan will be displayed.
Adorned with flowers
The Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya has been adorned with flowers. Exotic flowers and decorations have been used to add to the splendour of the event, said a government spokesperson from Ayodhya.
Flower artists from Mathura, Sitapur and other cities have done the floral decorations.
Balkrishna Saini, an expert floral artist, who has taken the responsibility of the flower decoration, said imported flowers were used to deck up the birthplace of Lord Ram. “These flowers will also be used to make Rangolis as well as to decorate the Ram temple and its gates.”
Six quintal flowers of white, blue, yellow, purple and green colours have been used to create rangolis. About 40 quintals of marigold and 2,000 bundles of gerbera are being used to decorate the Ram temple. Flowers such as orchids, lilies and others were brought from Kolkata and Bengaluru.
PM’s schedule
Modi is expected to arrive and be welcomed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath at the Saket Degree College between 3.45pm and 4.20pm. From here he will go to Shri Ram Janmbhoomi, do worship, view the Shri Ram Janbhoomi Teerth area and inspect the temple construction work till about 5.10pm. He will perform ‘Shri Ram Rajyabhishek (symbolic coronation) at the Ramkatha Park, then witness Saryu river aarthi at Naya Ghat before he arrives around 6pm at Ram Ki Paidi for Deepotsav programme. He will then view the green and digital fireworks (dyanamic lighting and laser show/fireworks) at the Naya Saryu Ghat from 7pm onwards before he leaves Ayodhya around 7.30pm. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will arrive in Ayodhya around 12.45pm.