Ayodhya will be lit up to mark construction of temple: Yogi

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5 has come after a wait of 500 years and will be celebrated on the lines of Deepawali. He said temples and houses across the country will be lit up with diyas (earthen lamps) and candles to mark the occasion — much like Deepawali which, in some parts of the country, is celebrated to mark Lord Ram’s return home to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.

Adityanath, who was in Ayodhya to review preparations for the ceremony, said the Hindu community has been waiting for a long time for the event on August 5 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay the temple’s foundation stone.

He added that 11,000 diyas will be lit at Ram Ki Paidi on the banks of the Saryu river in Ayodhya. “The Prime Minister will visit Ayodhya. We will make Ayodhya the pride of India and the world. Cleanliness should be the first condition,” news agency ANI quoted Adityanath as saying.

“We all will be coming together for an auspicious event. There will be deepotsava (festival of lights) in all houses and temples on the nights of August 4 and 5. Deepawali is associated with Ayodhya and it cannot even be imagined without Ayodhya.”

The Supreme Court paved the way for the temple’s construction last year when it ordered that a temple be built on the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

Adityanath met members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, which is overseeing the preparations for the ceremony. He visited Ram Janmabhoomi and paid obeisance