Airport Opening, Revamped Railway Station, PM Modi's Visit | All About Ayodhya Ram Mandir Inauguration

The Ram Mandir temple trust is all set to hold the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 21, 22, and 23.  It has been told that the newly built temple would be opened for devotees after the consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla on January 22.

Here's a brief account of a slew of events lined up right ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.

PM Modi to visit Ayodhya before inauguration

The temple trust members had earlier confirmed that an official invite would be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event. 

Ahead of the inauguration in January, PM Modi is also scheduled to hold a roadshow and address a public meeting right after the inauguration of an airport in the temple town of Ayodhya on December 30. It has been reported that the first flight to Ayodhya is scheduled to reach at 11.20 am after taking off from Delhi at 10 am.

Ayodhya District Magistrate Nitish Kumar told PTI, "The prime minister will inaugurate the Ayodhya airport first and then he will move to the railway station in a roadshow."

As per media reports, PM Modi's roadshow will cover a distance of about 15 km between the airport and the revamped railway station. The procession will pass through Dharam Path, Lata Mangeshkar Chowk, Ram Path, Tedhi Bazaar and Mohabra intersection.

On the route of the roadshow, cultural programmes will be staged at 51 places, and sages and saints will bless the prime minister.

Railway station Inauguration

Besides the Ayodhya airport, the revamped railway station in Ayodhya will also be inaugurated by PM Modi where he is scheduled to flag off Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains. Later, the prime minister will address a public meeting as well.

Anticipating the grandeur of the inauguration ceremony in January, the Indian Railways has announced plans to operate over 1,000 trains from various parts of the country to Ayodhya within the first 100 days. As per reports, these trains will be functional from January 19.

These special trains will run between Ayodhya and various regions and cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Nagpur, Lucknow, and Jammu.

The Ayodhya station has also undergone renovations to cater to the expected high footfall. The renovated station is capable of handling a daily footfall of 50,000 individuals and is slated to be operational by January 15.

Who all are invited?

Besides, saints, priests, shankaracharyas, religious leaders, former civil servants, retired Army officers, lawyers, the temple trust has also invited journalists and administrative officers who were posted in Ayodhya region around 1992.

With over 7,000 invitees for the idol consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, the detailed guest list includes the names of spiritual and religious leaders like Dalai Lama, Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala and Baba Ramdev alongside film stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth Madhuri Dixit, Arun Govil, and film director Madhur Bhandarkar. The list also includes prominent industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, famous painter Vasudev Kamat, and Nilesh Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre (SAC/ISRO), Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has decided to refrain from attending the inauguration ceremony, senior party leader Brinda Karat said. When asked about the reason behind the decision taken by the party, Karat said “It is not right to politicise religion”.

“Our party will not attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. We respect religious beliefs but they are connecting a religious programme with politics. This is the politicization of a religious programme. This is not right,” she said.

'Best' one to be chosen from three idols of Ram Lala

According to temple trust, three idols of Ram Lala are being made for the grand opening out of which the 'best' sculpture that 'brings to life the tenderness of a five-year-old child' will be chosen and placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the newly built temple.

Rama Lala's idols are being made by three sculptors - Ganesh Bhatt, Arun Yogiraj and Satyanarayan Pandey.