Ayodhya riverfront to get 100m statue of Ram

Statue to come up only after NGT’s clearance to the project: Principal secy (tourism)

LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanathled government in Uttar Pradesh is planning to install a 100-metre statue of Lord Ram in a warrior pose on the River Saryu in Ayodhya, as part of a plan to put the temple town on the religious tourism map.

Principal secretary, tourism, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said the statue would come up in Ayodhya only after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) clearance to the project.

Awasthi, who is in Ayodhya, said that a grand statue is just at the conceptual level and would be on the pattern of Ram’s statue at Bali and statue of Shiva in Mauritius.

Awasthi made an elaborate presentation before governor Ram Naik on Monday about the details of the integrated tourism development programme that will cost approximately Rs 195.89 crore and the grand Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya this year. Of this, Rs 133.70 crore has been sanctioned by the union government.

Awasthi said in the presentation titled, Nav Ayodhya, that a ‘deepotsav’ would be organised in Ayodhya at Ram Ki Paidi on October 18, a day before Diwali.

Over 1,71,000 earthen lamps will be lit to celebrate the festival that marks the return of Ram to Ayodhya after an exile of 14 years in the presence of governor Ram Naik, CM Yogi Adityanath, state tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, union minister of state for tourism Alphons Kannanthanan, and union culture minister Mahesh Sharma.

This will be Adityanath’s third visit to Ayodhya after taking over as CM.

He added that a grand procession symbolising Ram’s return would be taken out which would be received by Adityanath at the Ram Katha Park.

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das of Mani Ram Das Chavni Peeth is likely to lead the procession, being taken out for the first time during Diwali in Ayodhya.

Hundreds of saints will participate and the whole of Ayodhya will be decked up for the occasion.

A symbolic ‘rajyabhishek’ (coronation ceremony) has also been planned.

After the ceremony, the governor and chief minister will lay the foundation stone for various development projects in the temple town and then participate in the aarti on the banks of Saryu.

A 30-minute laser show on Ram’s journey from Ayodhya to Lanka at the Saryu ghat, also known as Naya ghat, will be the highlight of the programme. Artistes from Indonesia and Thailand will also stage Ramleela, the popular drama that enacts the Hindu deity’s battle to kill the 10-headed demon king Ravan to rescue his wife Sita.

However, the disputed site that remains India’s most potent religious flashpoint will be left untouched during the celebrations.