The Ram Temple Trust is set to organize a series of cultural and religious events in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya to celebrate the first anniversary of the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol at the temple.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya will mark the completion of one year of its operations.
In preparation for this milestone, preparations are in full swing for the first anniversary of the Temple's Pran Pratishtha ceremony.
The temple trust has scheduled the celebrations from January 11 to 13 and plans to include common people who could not attend the historic ceremony last year, along with around 110 invited VIPs.
Various places within the Ram Janmabhoomi site would host these celebrations. Expected to perform during this three-day event are 'Folk Queen of India' Malini Awasthi; playback singer and politician Anuradha Paudwal, and poet Kumar Vishwas, among others.
Ram Katha and Ram Leela performances, besides several religious rituals, will be conducted at the three-day event, as stated by the temple trust.
On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will speak to the devotees at Kuber Tila and there will be musical and devotional performances throughout the day.
On January 11 to 13, musical troupes from different states will be performing kirtans at different crossing in Ayodhya.
Seers from across the country who were unable to participate in the earlier consecration ceremony have been invited to take part in the anniversary.
A list of around 70 such saints is being prepared by the Ram Temple Trust.
Kumar Vishwas and Malini Awasthi will perform at Angad Teela within the temple premises on Saturday, while Anuradha Paudwal and Kavita Paudwal will perform on Sunday.
Ram Katha will be narrated by Jagadguru Ramanujacharya and Swami Gyananand over the three days.
Sapna Goyal from Lucknow, along with 250 women, will recite the Sundarkand during the event.
Temple Trust General Secretary Champat Rai announced that seers from Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and more than 100 local seers of Ayodhya will join in the anniversary.
Confirming the fact, Rai mentioned in a statement that no special passes will be issued for darshan during the three-day event, and thus devotees are free to celebrate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the Ram Janmabhoomi temple on January 22, 2024.
According to the Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, over two lakh devotees visited the temple on January 1 - the first day of the year - to seek the blessings of the gods.
Chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Acharya Satyendra Das said, "Preparations are on at the Temple. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to attend the anniversary program and organize several events.
According to the priest, the Chief Minister is also supposed to inaugurate the program.
"This annual festival is also being celebrated in the same way as when Diwali was celebrated, so the Chief Minister himself said about Diwali," he added.
In December, Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Misra said that the construction of the Ram Mandir complex is progressing rapidly and is "hopefully" expected to be completed within the first six months of 2025.
Misra added that the construction work has been intensified since January is significant because it would be the first anniversary of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony and with the Mahakumbh celebrations in Prayagraj, Ayodhya would witness huge crowds.
"We were told that the construction work is on, speedily. The construction is going on in full swing. January is important also because it marks the first anniversary of Pran Pratishtha and also because the MahaKumbh is going to start which will attract considerable crowds," said Misra.
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