VHP extends invitations to Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi for Jan 22 event in Ayodhya, says they "will try their best to come"
Dec 19, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 19 : Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday invited former deputy prime minister LK Advani and Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi for the grand consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya next month.
This comes amid the temple trust has requested the two Bharatiya Janata Party stalwarts, not to attend the consecration event on grounds of age and health.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) president Alok Kumar said that both BJP veterans said that they will try their best to attend the January 22 event.
"The pioneers of the Ram Mandir movement, Advani ji and Murli Manohar Joshi ji were invited to attend the consecration ceremony. Both of them said that they will try their best to come," the VHP quoted president Alok Kumar as saying on X.
Advani (96) and Joshi, who will turn 90 next month, were at the forefront of the Ram Temple movement that eventually culminated in the Supreme Court deciding the decades-old title dispute case in favour of the Hindu side in a landmark ruling by a five-judge Constitution Bench on November 9, 2019.
The court ruled that the disputed land be given to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. The court also ordered that the Muslim side be compensated with five acres of land to build a mosque.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Champat Rai, the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, said, "Both are elders in the (Sangh) family and considering their age, they have been requested not to come (to Ayodhya for the consecration event). Both have accepted our request."
He said all preparations for the consecration ceremony, which is to be headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be completed by January 15, next year.
"The puja for Pran Pratishtha will begin on January 16 and will continue till January 22, 2024," the general secretary of the temple trust, informed.
Prime Minister Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. Preparations are underway in full swing for the event, which will draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life.
Amid the preparations, the locals in the temple city are delighted over new avenues of income from donations received from tourists coming from India and abroad in exchange for the hospitality offered to them.
Rai said a total of 13 Akharas, including 150 sages and saints from different traditions and Shankaracharyas from six philosophy traditions, will take part in the grand event.
"About four thousand saints have been invited to the programme. Apart from this, invitations have also been sent to 2,200 other guests," he said.
He informed further that heads of major temples like Kashi Vishwanath, and Vaishnodevi, and representatives of religious and constitutional institutions have also been invited.
"Spiritual guru Dalai Lama, Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, actors Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Arun Govil (who played Lord Ram in the television series 'Ramayana'), filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and leading industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, famous painter Vasudev Kamat, ISRO's Director Nilesh Desai and many other well-known personalities will also be present at the consecration ceremony," he added.
"After the consecration ceremony, Mandal Puja will be held for 48 days from January 24, in line with the North Indian tradition. At the same time, from January 23, common people will be able to have a darshan (sighting) of Lord Ram. Proper arrangements have been made for the guests to stay at more than three places in Ayodhya... 600 rooms have been made available by various monasteries, temples, and household families and Bhandaras will also become a regular affair at three major places from December 25," Rai added.
