All roads lead to Ayodhya as the nation prepares for the historic opening of the Ram Mandir there, which will take place five years after the Supreme Court decided that the Ram Temple would receive the disputed land. On Monday, the country will witness the big pran-pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla, a 51-inch black stone idol who will be formally crowned as the deity of the revered Ram Temple.
The ritual will take place at precisely 12.30 p.m. There will be hundreds of leaders from many fields attending the occasion, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The spectacular pran-pratishtha celebration will mark the culmination of years of planning when Ram Mandir opens its doors to tourists.
Ayodhya’s multi-layered security
10,715 cameras powered by AI have been installed to provide multi-layered security while monitoring the metropolis. There are now two NSG sniper teams in action. Drones that are designed to detect mines and bombs have been placed to search the ground.
The Ayodhya event will start at 12:20 p.m
The event will start about ten minutes before the sacred time and go until one p.m. After that, PM Modi will speak to the group of well-known individuals, politicians, actors, athletes, etc.
The musical piece ‘Mangal Dhvani’ will be performed by fifty instruments over the course of two hours on Monday. There will be flute, Dholak from Uttar Pradesh, Veena from Karnataka, Sundari from Maharashtra, Algoza from Punjab, Mardal from Odisha, Santoor from Madhya Pradesh, Pung from Manipur, Nagada and Kali from Assam, Tambura from Chhattisgarh, Pakhawaj from Bihar, Shehnai from Delhi, Ravanahatha from Rajasthan, Srikhol, Sarod of Bengal, Ghatam of Andhra Pradesh, Sitar from Jharkhand, additional instruments from Gujarat, Nagaswaram, Tavil, Mridang, and Hudka from Uttarakhand will participate.
Ayodhya is adorned, and presents are arriving from all throughout the nation.
Ayodhya has been prepared to welcome the major occasion, with hundreds of guests and religious authorities arriving in the city before the pran-pratistha. The massive occasion has caused tremors throughout the nation, as gifts for Ram Lalla have been received from all directions.
Special fragrances from Kannauj, 500 kg “kumkum” from Amravati, grains gathered at a Ram temple in Delhi, flowers from Bhopal, and papers with Lord Ram written 4.31 crore times from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara, along with gifts such as a 108-foot incense stick, a 2,100 kg bell, a giant lamp weighing 1,100 kg, gold footwear, a 10-foot-high lock and key, and a clock that simultaneously indicates the times of eight countries, 500 kg iron-copper “nagada” and “Onavillu” bow arrived at the temple.
More than 3,000 presents were given to the shrine from Janakpur, the birthplace of Sita in Nepal. A group from Sri Lanka presented a unique gift from the Ashok Vatika, a garden that the Ramayana mentions.
Visitors began to arrive in Ayodhya
From the lengthy list of 8,000 invitees, a number of actors and athletes arrived in Ayodhya on Sunday. On Sunday, Kangana Ranaut, Shefali Shah, Rajinikanth, Pawan Kalyan, Shankar Mahadevan, and Shefali Shah travelled to Uttar Pradesh; some of them arrived in Lucknow, while others arrived in Ayodhya. Additionally, Saina Nehwal, Venkatesh Prasad, PT Usha, and Anil Kumble arrived in the state.
Maha Prasad of Ayodhya
The temple will provide each visitor with a packet of mahaprasad that includes two laddus, water from the Saru River, an Akshatm betel nut plate, and kalava. Sant Seva Sansthan and the Bhagwa Sena Bharti Garvi of Gujarat made the mahaprasad packet.
Pre-consecratory customs
The pre-consecration ceremonies that preceded Monday’s consecration moment started on January 16, one week before the pran-pratishtha. During the pre-consecration rites, the 51-inch-tall idol that will become the Ram Mandir’s new deity was set in the sanctum sanctorum. On Monday, its eyes will be opened.
Modi’s eleven-day fast
In order to participate in the consecration rites, PM Modi followed an 11-day fast and satvic practice before the pran-pratishtha. He only drank coconut water during this period and slept on the ground as part of a ritual that was directed by scripture to awaken the divine consciousness. When PM Modi visited shrines connected to the Ramayana, he set out on a spiritual pilgrimage. PM Modi travelled to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh temples. Prime Minister Modi visited the site of Ram Setu, which is thought to have been constructed, on Sunday.
Plans in parallel by the opposition
The Congress turned down the invitation to this important occasion. The Samajwadi Party, the CPM, and the Trinamool all did the same. They’ve all prepared backup plans for their temples. Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Batadrava Than in Assam, which is the birthplace of Srimanta Sankaradeva, a Vaishnavite saint. After visiting the Kalighat temple, Mamata Banerjee will go to a protest in Kolkata for communal unity. Uddhav Thackeray is going to the Kalaram Temple in Nashik. Arvind Kejriwal is probably going to attend religious events in New Delhi.
Holiday in few states, Half day in few
Many states have declared a full vacation on January 22, while others have just declared a half-holiday, with colleges and schools closed. The central government has declared that Monday will be a half-day, with the markets staying closed. Banks in the public sector will be closed for a half-day. Certain states that have declared a public holiday will see their banks closed all day.
Conflict over the Ram Temple
There was a heated discussion about the event in the pran-pratistha. Some religious leaders said that the temple was not yet finished and that it was improper to perform the pran-pratistha of the idol in an unfinished temple, despite political parties alleging that the BJP had manipulated the temple’s inauguration. The temple trust emphasised that the completed garbha-griha will host the pran-pratishtha.
