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Vedic rituals set stage for Ayodhya ceremony
Ayodhya: A three-hour ceremony comprising five Vedic rituals at the Ram Janmabhoomi site on Tuesday morning set the stage for the foundation laying of the Ram temple
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Ayodhya: A three-hour ceremony comprising five Vedic rituals at the Ram Janmabhoomi site on Tuesday morning set the stage for the foundation laying of the Ram temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya town on Wednesday.
On the second day of the three-day ritual, the group of 21 priests started the rituals around 9.30am; simultaneous rituals began at the nearby Hanuman Garhi temple, where the PM is expected to offer prayers before making his way to the Ram Janmabhoomi site.
“Lord Hanuman is considered to be protector of Ayodhya. So, before the construction of Ram Mandir begins, we are performing this puja at Hanuman Garhi to seek his permission to start construction work of Ram Mandir,” said Anil Mishra, member of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust.
Offerings were also made at Chhoti Devkali and Badi Devkali temples, considered to be clan–deities of Lord Ram.
The PM is expected to leave Delhi at 9.35am and reach Ayodhya around 11.30am, said people familiar with his schedule. He will offer prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple for 10 minutes and reach the Janmabhoomi site around 12pm. The ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled to start around 1230pm after the planting of saplings. The PM will address 175 guests, comprising religious leaders and eminent citizens from Ayodhya, and also meet members of the temple trust before leaving the city shortly after 2pm.
The PM will use a 40-kilogram silver brick to lay the foundation of the temple. The brick – donated by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the temple trust -- will be removed after the ceremony.
Several devotees have also donated silver bricks to the trust. All of them will be used for the ceremony on Wednesday, said trust officials. “Later, these silver bricks will be enchased and the money will be used for the construction of Ram Mandir,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor designate to the trust chief.
On Wednesday, Vedic rituals will start at Ram Janmabhoomi at around 9am.
For the ceremony, a water-proof tent has been put up at the venue. A stage has also been set up from where PM Modi is expected to address guests. Guests will be allowed entry from 10am but will have to undergo a Covid-19 test using a rapid antigen testing kit.
The trust has ordered 100,000 packets of laddus for distribution after the ceremony on Wednesday. Each packet will have four laddus. The trust will also send these laddus to all embassies in New Delhi.
Ahead of the ceremony, local residents celebrated “Choti Diwali” on the banks of the Saryu river by lighting earthen lamps. Around 100,000 lamps will be lit on the banks of the river on Wednesday. In many parts of the country, the festival of lights, Deepawali, marks Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.
