With lamps and processions, Noida residents mark temple consecration

While some RWAs organised prayer and Ramlila, others lit ‘diyas’, the earthen lamps, within the society’s premises in the evening

The city was painted saffron as ‘Jai Shree Ram’ printed flags decked up all roads, streets buildings and public places of Noida on Monday during the Lord Ram’s consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

People light lamps at Sanatan Dharma Mandir, in Noida’s Sector 19, to mark the Pran Pratishtha (life establishment) of Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya, on Monday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and social welfare groups across the city celebrated the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony with a live telecast of the Ayodhya event and reverberation of hymns through the morning.

While some RWAs organised prayer and Ramlila, others lit ‘diyas’, the earthen lamps, within the society’s premises in the evening. In other societies, puja was performed along with distributing food to the poor. Several societies also burst fireworks, hailing the event akin to the Diwali – celebrated to mark return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya.

Residents of Lotus Panache displayed a giant 150-feet-long and 40-feet-wide poster of the event from one of the buildings, one of the largest posters in the city. It also created a large rangoli and the ‘chhappan bhog’ offering for the temple in their premises.

In Sector 137, an internal road was blocked for traffic for fireworks in the evening to celebrate the Ram Temple inauguration.

Jewar’s MLA Dhirendra Singh opted to mark the occasion by felicitating and gifting shawls to sanitation workers of Jewar and Rabupura areas, thanking them for keeping the streets and areas around temples clean ahead of the ceremony which was aired live at nearly all local temples.

“Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have worked very hard to make this day possible when Ram mandir is in front of us. I thank them for such a heavenly tribute to Lord Ram…,” he said.

Meanwhile Noida MLA Pankaj Singh offered prayers at the Shiv Durga temple in Sector 22.

One of the largest programmes in the city, residents of Jaypee Wish Town in Sector 128 to 131 placed 1,11,111 diyas in the sports field area.

In Ghaziabad, as well various societies organised similar events.

At Parivahan apartment in Sector 5, Vasundhara, residents started the day early with a kalash yatra and bhajan recitations by the women in the society around 6am.

“We had a Sunderkand recitation and laghu Ramlila presentation by children in our society in the evening…,” said Balraj Singh, secretary of The Parivahan Sahkari Awas Samiti Limited.

At the 25 societies that are part of the 7x sectors in Noida from Sectors 71 to 79, RWAs organised live telecast of the Ayodhya ceremony near the temples within their premises. While some of these societies distributed food, others distributed sweets.