The pran pratishtha ceremony at the Sri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be held in January 2024. The Ram temple’s doors will open for devotees after the pran pratishtha. Notably, on August 5, 2020, after the court order in 2019, foundation stone of grand Sri Ram Temple was laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dr Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Notably, the history of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir is centuries-old. The temple is being built on the birthplace of Bhagwan Sri Ram. Here it is worth mentioning that in the 16th century, the temple was demolished by Islamic invader Babur. After the court order, the construction of the temple was undertaken by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust formed by the Indian Government to oversee the construction of the temple.
Importantly, the Uttar Pradesh Government recently also approved three main routes to the temple site which will enable visitors to have darshan. Work on laying two of these routes is already underway, government officials said. One of these three routes, to be named Ram Path, will span 13 kms and connect Sahadatganj to Naya Ghat. While the road is to be laid at a cost of Rs 400 crore, the tendering process has been completed. A committee has also conducted a survey of the main route after it was approved by the government.
The locals on the route, who have homes or run shops or other establishments, would be rehabilitated before work on constructing the main approach road to the Ram temple begins.
Other Development works
The other route, to be called Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Path, will connect Birla Dharmashala to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple via Sugreev fort. Work on laying this route is on in full swing. While the work was initially estimated to be completed by November, officials now say that work will go on till December. “We will have the route ready by December this year,” Navdeep Rinwa, commissioner, Ayodhya Mandal.
The third route will connect Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple to Singar Ghat via Hanumangarhi. Work on this route is underway at a fast pace, officials said, adding that most of the land losers on this route have already been awarded compensation.
Impact
In December 2022, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that Ayodhya was the centre of the faith of “every Sanatani”. “Everyone aspires to come here once in their lifetime. The construction of the grand temple is going on a war footing. When the construction and development work of Ram Mandir gets completed in 2024, tourism in the city will increase 10 times.
