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The run-up to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22 began on Tuesday with a series of rituals, led by a member of the temple trust and his wife.
These rituals will reach their finale with the consecration, or ”pran pratishtha”, of the idol of Ram Lalla at the new temple in Ayodhya.
"The anushthan has started and will continue till January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony. Eleven priests are performing the rituals invoking all goddesses and gods," Ram temple chief priest Satyendra Das said.
The ‘yajman’ at the rituals -- including the ones conducted on the final consecration days -- is trust member Anil Mishra and his wife Usha Mishra.
Typically, the ’yajman' is the main "host" of a "puja" -- the person on whose behalf the prayers are offered. Mishra has to attend the rituals on all days, including on January 22 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present.
Mishra confirmed that he is the ’yajman’ for the ceremony.
Earlier, there was a debate if Modi is entitled to adopt the role which usually goes to a ”householder”.
Modi is scheduled to deliver a speech at the end of the consecration ceremony, expected to be attended by 8,000 guests.
But only a handful of them will be allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The trust said there are seven adhivasas in the 'pran pratishtha' and a minimum of three adhivasas are in practice.
There are 121 acharyas who are conducting the rituals and Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid is overseeing, coordinating and directing all proceedings of the ‘anushthan’. The principal 'acharya' will be Laxmikant Dixit of Kashi.
Over the next week, rituals like 'teerth poojan', 'jal yatra' and 'gandhadhivas' will take place. On Monday, the 'prayaschita' and 'karmakuti poojan' took place.
The Ram temple 'pran pratishtha' will begin at 12.20 pm on January 22 and is expected to end by 1 pm, temple trust general secretary Champat Rai told reporters on Monday.
Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the apex court in a historic verdict in 2019 backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.
Prime Minister Modi performed the 'bhoomi pujan' of the temple in August 2020, bringing to fruition the BJP's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.