Ramesh Tiwari

  Carved by Karnataka’s renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj, the 51-inch and about 150-kg idol depicting a five-year-old Ram Lalla has been placed on the throne in the garbha griha of the Ram Mandir at 1.28 pm on Thursday, 18 Jan 2024 amid the auspicious chant of Vedic Mantras. The host Dr. Anil Misra and his wife Usha Mishra, who had commenced the consecration ceremony rituals of the Ram temple as the standby yajman on Tuesday, 16 Jan 2024, performed the Pradhan Sankalp. The ceremony lasted around four hours. The main yajman for the ceremony, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will take over from them on January 22 when the idol will be consecrated. Rituals in the run up to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony had started at the temple complex on January 16 with Prayaschita and Karmakuti poojan. Pushpadhivas, Shayadhivas and Madhyadhivas are scheduled for 20 and 21 January. 121 priests conduct the ritual proceedings of the Anushthan under the direction of a co-ordinating priest shri Ganesh

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi undertook a set of special rituals on Friday, January 12, 2024 and started observing an 11-day-long rigorous fasting and Yama-Niyama as mentioned in the Gita and in Patanjali’s first two of the eight limbs of Yoga. The first limb is about five ethical principles like non-violence, truthfulness, honesty, abstinence and non-accumulation. Niyama consists of cleanliness inside and outside, contentment, penance, self study and surrender to Providence. He said, “Only 11 days are left for the consecration of Ramlala in Ayodhya. I am fortunate that I will also be a witness to this auspicious occasion. The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India during the consecration. Keeping this in mind, I am starting a special ritual of 11 days from today. I seek blessings from all the people. At this moment, it is very difficult to express my feelings in words.” He went on, “I will always be inspired by the countless people who have dedicated