The new idol of Ram Lalla, made of black stone and depicts the deity as a five-year-old child, was installed on a pedestal inside the sanctum sanctorum of Ram Temple in Ayodhya amidst the chanting of prayers on Thursday afternoon. The first photo of the 51-inch idol, sculpted by Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, had its face covered with a veil and showed the deity in a standing posture.
According to a CNN-News18 report, the original idols of Lord Ram (Ram Lalla Virajman) and his brothers will be installed in front of the new idol inside the Sanctum Sanctorum or the ‘garbgriha’.
The original idols, which have been worshipped since 1949, are currently kept in the make-shift temple inside the premises and will be shifted to the new temple inside the ‘garbgriha’ ahead of the January 22 ‘Pran Pratishthan’ ceremony.
The entire temple complex will be closed to the general public on January 20, 21.
New Idol of Ram Lalla
The new idol has been uncovered inside the ‘garbgriha’ except the srimukh (face of the deity). It will be unveiled on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new idol is now eight feet in height after being placed on a pedestal.
The original idol of Ram Lalla is just six inches in height while the idols of his brothers, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughana, and Lord Hanuman, are even smaller.
Hence, the Ram Temple trust decided to make a bigger standing idol of Ram Lalla so that devotees could get a grand darshan of the deity. The devotees will now be able to have a joint Darshan of the new idol as well as the original idols of Ram Lalla and his brothers.
The Mysuru-based artist Arun Yogiraj, who has sculpted the new idol of Ram Lalla, has also made the statues of Adi Shankaracharya installed in Kedarnath and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate.
Trust officials told CNN-News18 that the new Ram Lalla idol has a beautiful forehead and big eyes, and it is perhaps the most divine depiction of Lord Ram Lalla.
The grand consecration ceremony or the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ram Lalla is scheduled for January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the ceremony to which, over 11,000 guests have been invited including prominent celebrities, politicians and sportspersons.
All the trustees of the temple trust, seers of about 150 sects and more than 500 people associated with the construction of the temple, who have been named the “Engineer Group” will also attend the ceremony.
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