Ayodhya witness engineering marvel; Surya Tilak touches Ram Lalla's forehead

AYODHYA: Wednesday marked the first Ram Navami after the inauguration of the holy Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. In the auspicious moment, the rays of lord Surya touched the face of Ram Lalla idol raising the divinity of the whole event. Devotees were allowed inside the temple till noon. Devotees chanted Jai Shri Ram as the sunlight hit Ramlalla's forehead with a 75 mm diameter tilak. This surreal happening lasted for just four minutes. Millions of people watched Suryabhishekam live through Doordarshan.

Ram Navami is celebrated on the ninth day of the Chaitra month, the birth anniversary of Lord Rama. Every year on this day, a technical system has been installed in the Ram temple where the sun's rays fall on Ramlalla's forehead. Ram Mandir was inaugurated back on January 22.

Surya Tilak event was made possible with the help of scientists from the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. An opto-mechanical system with four high-quality mirrors and four lenses is provided for this purpose. It has 19 gears. In the mechanism (Surya Tilak mechanism) installed on the third floor of the temple, the rays of the sun falling on Ramlalla's forehead were projected with mirrors and lenses. Ten scientists were present in the temple for this purpose.

This engineering marvel is already in use in some famous Jain temples of India.