Ram Lalla idol placed in Sanctum Sanctorum; Prime Minister releases stamp

AYODHYA: As part of the elaborate rituals leading up to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held on January 22, the idol of Ram Lalla was placed in the 'Garbha Griha' of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on Thursday amid joyous chants of 'Jai Shri Ram.' The idol was placed between 12.20 pm and 1.28 pm facing east.

In a significant prelude to the upcoming ceremony, a special puja was held in the sanctum sanctorum before the idol was brought inside with the help of a crane on Wednesday night.

The statue of Ram Lalla sculpted by Karnataka sculptor Arun Yogiraj has been selected for installation at Ram Temple. Laxmikant Dixit of Varanasi is the chief priest for the ceremonies which began on January 16.

Meanwhile, Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the abbot of the Jyothir Mutt in Uttarakhand, wrote to the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Temple Trust, questioning the need for a new idol. He is of the position that the ceremony is against the shastras.

Modi releases Stamp
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released six types of stamps with images including those of the Ram Temple in connection with Pran Pratishtha. The stamp also has images of the Sun, the Sarayu River, Lord Ganesha, Hanuman, Jatayu and various temple sculptures. He also released a book of stamps issued on Lord Ram by more than 20 countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in X that the stamps will provide an opportunity to remind many generations about Pran Pratishtha.

Team sent to Ayodhya to deal with cyber fraud

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a high-level team to Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya to deal with cyber threats ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in the historical town on January 22. As per sources, the joint team includes officials of MHA's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and experts in cyber matters.

The move comes amid alerts issued by the cyber security wing of the Union Home Ministry urging citizens to be cautious of "malicious mobile applications" sent on WhatsApp by cyber criminals on VIP entry to the Ayodhya temple.