Idol of Lord Ram will be placed at Garba Griha on Jan 18; Pran Pratishtha will take place at 12.20 pm on Jan 22

NEW DELHI: The consecration ceremonies of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya will begin today. On January 18, the idol of Shri Ram will be placed at its position at the 'Garba Griha' of the temple. General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Champat Rai said that Pran Pratishtha will take place at 12.20 pm on January 22.

The muhurat (auspicious timing) was decided by Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid of Varanasi.

"The religious rituals will begin from Jan 16 and will continue till Jan 21. On Jan 22, 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony will take place. The idol for which 'Pran Pratishtha' will be done is expected to be around 150-200kgs. On 18th January, the idol will be placed at its position in the 'Garbh Griha' of the temple," Champat Rai said.

He further said that the formal procedures of pre-Praan Pratishtha sacraments will start on January 16 and continue till January 21. He added that the Pran Prathishtha' is expected to conclude by 1 pm on January 22. On January 20 and 21 darshan will remain closed to the public.

"There are Seven Adhivaasas in Pran Pratishtha ceremony and a minimum of three Adhivasas are in practice. There will be 121 Acharyas conducting the rituals. Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid will be overseeing, coordinating, anchoring and directing all the proceedings of the ritual and the principal Acharya will be Luckshmikant Dixit of Kashi," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others will witness the ceremony. Around 150 Acharyas and sages will attend the function. Representatives of all tribal groups will participate. Darshan will be allowed after the completion of prana pratishta.

"During the run-up to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, people from different states are continuously coming with water, soil, gold, silver, gems, clothes, jewellery, huge bells, drums, aroma/fragrance items, etc. The most notable among them were the Bhaars (gifts sent at the time of setting up a daughter's house) sent from Maa Janaki's maternal homes at Janakpur (Nepal) and Sitamarhi (Bihar) which a large number of people carried to Ayodhya and also gifts of different types of jewellery, etc., were offered by the Nanihal (maternal grandmother's place of Shri Ram) at Raipur, Dandakaranya area," Rai said.