A great moment, temple was resurrected after 500 years: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram's idol is scheduled at the grand temple in Ayodhya at 12:30 PM on January 22, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the ceremony, an idol of Lord Ram will be enthroned in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Temple.

"This is a great moment; the temple was resurrected from that place after 500 years, and naturally, there is a great sense of celebration in the whole country," Ravi Shankar told ANI.

Further, the spiritual guru told ANI, "Actually, people wanted to celebrate when the judgement came in favour of the temple itself but it was the wisdom of our government and our prime minister that people were asked not to celebrate at that time. Now we have to unleash that emotion that we have been holding back for five years."

Earlier in the day, Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Temple, shared his joy ahead of the 'Pran Pratishtha', saying it would be a moment of 'great happiness' for him to ceremonially restore the deity to His birthplace.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Acharya Das said, "It is a moment of great happiness that Ram Lalla will finally take his throne at the grand temple. The chanting of Vedic verses that began on January 16 will be completed tomorrow."

On the rituals preceding the ceremonial enthronement or 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Lalla, the top Ayodhya seer said, "The 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony will begin tomorrow at 12.30 p.m. A puja will be performed, following which Shri Ram Lalla will be given a bath in the Saryu River. The Lord will then be adorned with clothes and trinkets. After this, Ram Lalla will be fed the 'Prasada' and a 'Shringar Aarti' will be performed. The deity will then be established at the temple and the devotees will be allowed 'Darshan'."

Earlier, the new idol, sculpted by Arun Yogiraj, was placed inside the sanctum santorum of the temple. The idol is 51 inches tall and weighs 1.5 tonnes. The idol portrays Lord Ram as a five-year-old child standing on a lotus also crafted from the same stone.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform rituals marking the 'Pran Pratishtha'. A team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will lead the main rituals. Several celebrities and noted personalities have been invited to the ceremony. (ANI)