Rituals for Ram temple's second anniversary begin

Ayodhya (UP), Dec 27 (PTI) Rituals marking the second anniversary or Pratishtha Dwadashi of Ram temple's consecration ceremony began on Saturday in the premises, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra (SRJTK) Trust members said.

The anniversary will be on December 31, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh being the chief guest.

The rituals were conducted under the SRJTK Trust member Swami Vishwaprasanna Teertha, with 15 Vedic scholars from Bengaluru Vidyapeeth in attendance, they said.

Saturday's rituals included a havan and the establishment of a kavach. A palanquin festival for the deity was also held in the complex, followed by a mandal puja. Other ceremonies included tatva havan, worship of a tatva kalash, Ganpati puja and another havan, Swami Vishwaprasanna Teertha said.

On Pratishtha Dwadashi, on December 31, the deity will be anointed with panch ras with fifty-six dishes offered to Lord Ram Lalla as bhog, Swami said. He said bhajans will be sung and a dhol festival will also be held. Meetings are underway to install a gem-studded idol.

The idol of the Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on January 22, 2024.

All VIP passes for the Ram temple till January 1, 2026, are full, informed temple trust member Anil Mishra.

Mishra said that the number of devotees in Ayodhya has been continuously increasing for the past month. Despite this, devotees coming through the general darshan route are getting darshan in about half an hour.

Regarding the pass system, a limited number of passes are issued daily. A total of 400 passes are fixed in one slot of 2 hours, which are full till January 1. He said that Aarti's passes are also full. PTI COR NAV APL APL