Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha: Reliance Industries Declares Holiday for Employees Across India on January 22

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has declared a holiday for its employees across India on January 22, the day the Ram Lalla idol will be consecrated at the newly built Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya. RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and his family are among those who feature in a select state guest list of invitees to the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony on Monday.

While the Centre has announced that all central government offices will remain closed for half a day on January 22, several state governments and educational institutions too have announced full or half day leaves.

Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra have declared full-day leave, while Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Odisha have declared half-days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, which is expected to be opened to the public the next day.

Temple trust general secretary Champat Rai had told reporters that the consecration ceremony will begin at 12:20pm and is expected to be completed by 1pm. Rituals leading to the consecration ceremony have already begun at the temple.

The first image of the new Ram Lalla idol became public on Friday as anticipation built up for the consecration ceremony. The statue, carved in black stone sourced from Karnataka, has its eyes covered with a piece of yellow cloth and is adorned with a garland of roses, going by the picture released by the Vishva Hindu Parishad. Ram Lalla, the child Ram, is in the standing posture.

The new 51-inch idol, carved by Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj, was placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple on Thursday afternoon, brought there on a truck the previous night. On Friday, rituals at the temple began at 8:30am and went on till 3:30pm.