AYODHYA: BJP stalwarts, former deputy prime minister LK Advani and Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, won't attend the grand consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya next month, the temple trust informed on Monday.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Champat Rai, the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, said Advani (96) and Joshi, who will turn 90 next month, were requested not to attend the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 24, next year, on grounds of age and health.
Advani and Joshi were at the forefront of the Ram Temple movement that eventually culminated in the Supreme Court deciding the decades-old title dispute case in favour of the Hindu in a landmark ruling by a five-judge Constitution Bench on November 9, 2019.
The court ruled that the disputed land be given to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. The court also ordered that the Muslim side be compensated with five acres of land to build a mosque.
"Both are elders in the (Sangh) family and considering their age, they have been requested not to come (to Ayodhya for the consecration event). Both have accepted our request," Rai told reporters here on Monday.
He said all preparations for the consecration ceremony, which is to be headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be completed by January 15, next year. "The puja for Pran Pratishtha will begin on January 16 and will continue till January 22, 2024," the general secretary of the temple trust, informed.
PM Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22.
Preparations are underway in full swing for the event, which will draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life. Amid the preparations, the locals in the temple city are delighted over new avenues of income from donations received from tourists coming from India and abroad in exchange for the hospitality offered to them.
Rai said a total of 13 Akharas, including 150 sages and saints from different traditions and Shankaracharyas from six philosophy traditions, will take part in the grand event. "About four thousand saints have been invited to the programme. Apart from this, invitations have also been sent to 2,200 other guests," he said.
He informed further that heads of major temples like Kashi Vishwanath, and Vaishnodevi, and representatives of religious and constitutional institutions have also been invited.
"Spiritual guru Dalai Lama, Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, actors Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Arun Govil (who played Lord Ram in the television series 'Ramayana'), filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and leading industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, famous painter Vasudev Kamat, ISRO's Director Nilesh Desai and many other well-known personalities will also be present at the consecration ceremony," he added.
"After the consecration ceremony, Mandal Puja will be held for 48 days from January 24, in line with the North Indian tradition. At the same time, from January 23, common people will be able to have a darshan (sighting) of Lord Ram. Proper arrangements have been made for the guests to stay at more than three places in Ayodhya... 600 rooms have been made available by various monasteries, temples, and household families and Bhandaras will also become a regular affair at three major places from December 25," Rai added.