PM to perform Bhumi Pujan at 12.30 pm Wednesday in Ayodhya

Lucknow, Aug 4

The ‘Bhumi Pujan’ for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin at 12.30 pm on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing the ‘Shila Pujan’, ‘Bhumi Pujan’ and ‘Karma Shila Pujan’.

According to an official statement, the main ‘puja’ will be held between 12.44 p.m. and 12.45 p.m. during the 32-second ‘Abhijit Muhurat’. It is the same ‘muhurat’ or auspicious moment when Lord Ram was believed to have been born.

The Prime Minister will lay a 40-kg silver brick to symbolise the start of construction of the temple that is at the core of the ruling BJP’s ideology and poll promises. A campaign for the temple marked the rise of the party to the national spotlight in the 1990s.

Modi is likely to spend around three hours in Ayodhya on Wednesday.

He will arrive from Delhi at Lucknow airport at 10.35 am and immediately leave for Ayodhya by a helicopter. The Prime Minister will arrive in Ayodhya at 11.30 am at the Saket Mahavidyalaya where his chopper will land.

At 11.40 am, Modi will go to Hanuman Garhi temple where he will offer prayers for 10 minutes and then proceed to the Ram Janmabhoomi complex where he will offer prayers to Ram Lalla Virajman.

The Prime Minister will plant a ‘Parijat’ sapling at 12.10 p.m in the temple complex and then proceed for the Bhumi Pujan ceremony.

After the ceremony which will end at 12.45.p.m, the Prime Minister will address the saints for about an hour after which he will fly back to Lucknow around 2 pm and then return to Delhi.

1,000 men deployed in Ayodhya to shoo away monkeys at temple site

By Arshad Afzaal Khan

 Ayodhya, Aug 4 Around 1,000 workers from different departments including sanitation workers, home guards and staff of the animal husbandry department have been roped in to shoo away monkeys at the Ram Janmabhoomi premises where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Bhumi Pujan ceremony on Wednesday.

According to an estimate by the local administration, there are about 10,000 monkeys in Ayodhya and on a given day the Ram Janmabhoomi site is full of monkeys as the devotees have to go through caged gangways to protect themselves from monkey attacks.

To ensure monkeys do not create any disturbance during the Bhumi Pujan ceremony, the administration has roped in a heavy contingent of government employees to shoo away monkeys from the site.

Talking to IANS, Deputy Director, Information, Murli Dhar Singh said, “the Nagar Nigam of Ayodhya and the department of animal husbandry have been given the duties to keep the premises safe from monkeys.”

“Catapults and wooden batons will be used to shoo away monkeys while the most effective weapon will be gram and fruits which will be offered to the monkeys some distance away from the premises so that they remain busy eating.”

“Five hundred to 1,000 men from government departments including sanitation workers, home guards and animal husbandry staff have been roped in for the purpose,” he added.