Ayodhya Ram Temple: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani will skip the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Temple owing to prevailing extreme cold weather conditions. Notably, Advani was a prominent figure in the Ram Mandir movement who played a pivotal role in advocating for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
Advani’s remarks on Ram Temple
Earlier on January 12, Advani said that destiny had decided that a grand temple of Lord Ram would be built in Ayodhya and it chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this. He stated this in an article ‘Ram Mandir Nirman, Ek Divya Swapna Ki Purti’. In his article, Advani referred to the ‘Rath Yatra’ he took out 33 years ago for Ram temple construction and said he believes the Ayodhya movement was the “most decisive and transformative event” in his political journey which allowed him to “re-discover India and, in the process, re-understand himself”.
Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra
A pivotal moment in the Ram Mandir movement unfolded in 1990 with the launch of the Rath Yatra led by BJP’s then-president Lal Krishna Advani. This mass mobilisation, appreciated by the public at the time, saw Advani leading the Rath Yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya, expressing support for the Ram Temple agitation. Commencing on September 25, 1990, in Somnath, the Yatra included thousands of kar sevaks, or volunteers, affiliated with the Sangh Parivar.
PM Modi to attend Pran Pratishtha
The Pran Prathistha ceremony will be held on Monday in the temple town of Ayodhya amid tight security. The historic ritual of ‘Pran Pratistha’ of Ram Lalla will take place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saints, and a host of distinguished guests. Earlier on Sunday, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said that the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony will be marked by a dazzling musical event titled ‘Mangal Dhwani’.
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