Surya tilak for Lalla on Ram Navami today
LUCKNOW: At noon on Ram Navami Wednesday, the Sun’s rays will fall on the forehead of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, a ‘Surya tilak’ of the deity made possible by an elaborate mechanism involving mirrors, lenses.
This would be the first Ram Navami since the consecration of the Ram idol at the new temple, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.
The system was tested by the scientists on Tuesday. “The basic objective of the Surya Tilak project is to focus a ‘tilak’ on the forehead of Shri Ram idol on every Shri Ram Navami day. Under the project, sunlight will be brought on the forehead of Lord Ram at noon on Shri Ram Navami in the Chaitra month every year,” Dr S K Panigrahi, scientist at CSIR-CBRI Roorkee, associated with the project said.
Elaborating, Panigrahi said, “The position of the Sun changes every year on the day of Ram Navami. Detailed calculations show that the date of Ram Navami repeats every 19 years.”
According to a senior scientist of Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, the planned tilak size is 58 mm. The exact period of tilak on the forehead centre is about three to three-and-ahalf minutes, with two minutes of full illumination, he said.
A member of Shri Ram
Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Anil Mishra, said, “During the Surya tilak, devotees will be allowed inside the Ram temple. Around 100 LEDs are being put up, and 50 by the government, which will show the Ram Navami celebrations. People can see the celebrations from where they are present.”
Sharing his experience in installing this unique mechanism, Dr D P Kanungo, chief scientist at CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee said, “Actually this is meticulously planned, designed and implemented to achieve utmost accuracy.”
This will be a testament to our scientific acumen and indigenous technological development to showcase before our countrymen who have all the faith in and support to our scientific community, he said.