The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be completed by June 5, while the 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Ram Darbar will be performed in a ceremony beginning June 3, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee said on Wednesday.
Mishra said that the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be finished by June 5, after which the 'pran pratishtha' (consecration) ceremony, which is expected to be grand, will be held on June 5.
The new portion of the Ram temple will be opened for public within a week after June 5 ceremony, the construction committee chief said. However, the guest list is expected to be different this time, he added.
The consecration of Ram Lalla was held on January 22 last year in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The idols of Ram Darbar will be consecrated on June 5... the rituals will begin from June 3. Besides that seven other temples have been constructed in the complex and the religious ceremony for those temples will also be performed on the same day. The construction of the temple will be completed by June 5, except for murals depicting the story of Lord Ram which are to be pitched in the lower plinth of the temple," Nripendra Misra said.
Asked whether the June 5 consecration ceremony will be as grand as it was last year, Misra said the temple trust is taking a call on the final modalities.
"The consecration ceremonies are grand always. Because you are obviously invoking and the 'pratishtha' of the Lord is being performed. But maybe the guest list will be different. Maybe the priests who will come there to perform the puja may be different. So I won't say that it is a similar kind. But I would say it has the same objective and it will achieve the same thing," he said.
He, however, added that the guest list will not include VIPs from the states or the Centre.
"The trust is taking a call on that. And perhaps they would also be inviting many spiritual gurus of different beliefs at the time of that ceremony. The trust has also decided that no VIPs either from the states or the Centre government will be invited to the ceremony," he added.