Mohanlal and Mata Amritanandamayi invited for inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya; VHP invites Advani and Joshi following controversy

NEW DELHI: A controversy erupted after the Ram Temple Trust in Ayodhya asked senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi, who led the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in Ayodhya, not to come to the inauguration of the Sri Ram Temple. Shortly after the controversy raged, Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Alok Kumar and RSS leaders Ramlal and Krishna Gopal met the two leaders at their residences and invited them in person. Both the senior leaders revealed that they will try to come to the event if their health permits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the temple on January 22. Prana Pratishtha Puja will be held from January 16 to 22. 4000 priests and 2200 guests will participate.

Mata Amritanandamayi and Mohanlal are also invited for the inauguration of the temple. Champat Rai, general secretary of the Ram Temple Trust, explained that Advani and Joshi were requested not to come considering their age and ill health. Advani is 96 years old. Joshi will turn 90 next month. He said that both of them accepted the request.

It was Advani's Ratha Yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya that intensified the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in the 1990s. It is alleged that the speeches made by Advani and Joshi had provoked the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. Both were acquitted by the Lucknow court in the criminal case related to the incident.

Dalai Lama, Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan
Spiritual leaders Mata Amritanandamayi, Dalai Lama, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, actors Mohanlal, Rajinikanth, Dhanush, Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Madhuri Dixit, Industrialists Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, ISRO Director Nilesh Desai, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are among those invited for the inauguration of Ram Temple.