Bhubaneswar: Invitations have been sent to over 7,000 people, among them 3,000 VVIPs for the grand consecration ceremony of Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has also invited 4,000 saints and seers from different parts of the country, delegates from 50 countries and family members of the ‘Kar Sevaks’ who were part of the Ram Temple movement.
“Be it Bollywood or sports celebrities, corporate Moghuls, scientists, judges, journalists, politicians, saints or seers, we have made sure to invite famous personalities from all sectors. Other than these, the invitations are being sent to poets, singers and Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan award recipients for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony scheduled for January 22 next year,” said Sharad Sharma, regional spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ayodhya.
Among the VVIPs are big names such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Kangana Ranaut, cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Yoga guru Ramdev, and industrialists Mukesh Ambai, Ratan Tata, and Gautam Adani. The trust has also invited actor Arun Govil who played the role of Lord Ram in the famous TV serial ‘Ramayan’ as well as Dipika Chikhlia, who played the role of Sita.
As a mark of respect and gratitude, the family members of Kar Sewaks who lost their lives in the Ram Temple movement, have also been invited to the function.
A team of 21 pandits from Varanasi, comprising scholars proficient in all four Vedas, will also attend the ceremony. “Pt Laxmikant Dixit, a distinguished Vedic scholar, will lead the team, which includes his two sons, Pt Jaikrishna Dixit and Sunil Dixit, both accomplished scholars of Vedas, along with 18 other pandits from Kashi,” officials with the trust said.
The officials confirmed that the idol to be placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple is almost complete. Altogether, three idols of Lord Ram have been prepared of which the best would be placed in the sanctum sanctorum on January 22.
