• By Kamal Kumar
  • Tue, 19 Dec 2023 03:44 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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Ram Mandir Invitation News: On Tuesday, Vishwa Hindu Parishad extended invitations to former deputy prime minister LK Advani and Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi for the upcoming consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya next month. Earlier, the chairman of the temple trust, Champat Rai advised the two Bharatiya Janata Party stalwarts against attending the event, citing the age and health of both.

Alok Kumar, the president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said that both BJP veterans said they will try their best to participate in the ceremony scheduled for January 22.

"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, aged 96, and Joshi, who will turn 90 next month, played key roles in the Ram Temple movement. The Ram Mandir movement concluded with a significant Supreme Court decision on November 9, 2019. A five-judge Constitution Bench ruled in favour of the Hindu side in a decades-old title dispute. The court mandated the allocation of the disputed land to a trust for the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.

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The apex court also ordered to provide five acres of land for the construction of a mosque for the Muslim side.

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.

(With agency inputs)