Exclusive: 'Prana-pratishtha of Lord Ram's idol in Ayodhya Ram Mandir will happen between January 14-24'

Any day between January 14 and January 24, 2024, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides, the final prana-pratishtha (consecration) of Lord Ram's idol in the newly-constructed grand temple in Ayodhya, said Nripendra Misra, the chairman of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust's temple construction committee in an exclusive conversation with Asianet News Network.

Speaking exclusively with Rajesh Kalra, the executive chairman of the Asianet News Network, the former bureaucrat said that prayers and the idol installation ceremony would start at the Ram Temple on January 14, 2024.

He said, "We have invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi; we are yet to hear from him. Prayers will start on January 14. After that, when he decides on a date within January 24, we will do the final prana-pratishtha. On that day, Lord Ram’s idol will be installed here. The next day, the devotees will start coming and have 'darshan'. And just in front of the grand statue, the existing idol of Lord Ram, which is in the makeshift temple, will be brought to the new temple and placed there."

Nearly a year ago, Asianet News Network had visited the construction site in Ayodhya where the grand temple of Lord Ram was being built. Much has changed on site since then, and a grand Ram Temple has taken shape. Misra, who had given exclusive access to Asianet News Network last year, once again showed us the construction progress and expressed confidence that the Ram Mandir will be inaugurated in January 2024.

Misra, who has also supervised the construction phase of the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya (Prime Minister’s museum)in New Delhi, has been travelling to Ayodhya every week since the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him the responsibility. He conducts progress review meetings every Saturday with attention to the upcoming tasks and existing issues in the construction work.

The detailed interview will be aired on Asianet News Network soon.