AYODHYA Ram Temple : Foundation stone laying is on August 5th

MILLIONS of Ram devotees are elated over the laying of foundation stone  -BHUMI PUJAN – for the construction of the long-awaited grand temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, one of the Hindu community’s holy trinity, at Ayodhya on August 5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to do the Bhumi Poojan amidst the chanting of  Vedic rituals.

The  Ramayana epic says the location of Rama’s birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu river in Ayodhya now in India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh. The Bhoomi Pujan will be on August 5th, most of the media say citing sources. PM Modi will travel to Ayodhya and will lead the ground-breaking ceremony at the invite of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust. This will also be the first-ever visit of PM to Ayodhya and the Ram temple area. The trust had proposed two dates to the Prime Minister for the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony –  August 3 and  5. The two dates were proposed based on calculations of movements of stars and planets. An official announcement on the date of the ground-breaking ceremony is yet to be announced by the Trust. Bhoomi Pujan will be done at the Garbh Griha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5. Garbhagriha in Sanskrit means the sanctum sanctorum, the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple where the idol or icon of the principal deity of the temple is located. PM Modi will be in  Ayodhya for the ritual amid protocols being observed to contain Coronavirus. Besides PM Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, members of the trust and some parliamentarians from the region are likely to be present on the occasion. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat is also expected to attend the event. The construction of the Ram temple was stopped in March due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus. Times Now says quoting sources that the prayers and other rituals related to the ‘Bhoomi Poojan’ ceremony will begin at 8 am IST on August 5. The ‘Bhoomi poojan’ will be done by priests from Kashi and some priests from Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of PM Modi. The proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be 161-feet tall with five domes. It has been designed by renowned architect Chandrakant Sompura. Deceased VHP chief Ashok Singhal had entrusted renowned architect Chandrakant Sompura to design the Ram temple. It would take around 3 and a half years to complete the construction. The Ram Temple earlier envisioned to have three domes will have five domes to accommodate more pilgrims, says Ahmedabad based Chandrakant Sompura. The design was first prepared in 1989, said the 80 years old architect. Sompura’s father Prabhakar was the architect of the Somnath Temple. The family has designed 131 temples including the famed Swami  Narayan Temple in Gandhinagar and Ambaji Mata Temple in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. It is among the 51  Shaktipeethas associated with Lord Shiva’s consort Sati Devi.