Naidu: Ram temple construction is a moment of spiritual renaissance
Vice-President visits Ayodhya, says long-cherished dream fulfilled
LUCKNOW : Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu along with his wife offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple at Ram Janmabhoomi and the historic Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya on Friday.
Sharing his views on his official Facebook page later, Naidu called his Ayodhya visit the fulfilment of a long cherished dream. He termed the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya as a moment of spiritual renaissance.
Earlier, Naidu was accorded a warm welcome at the Ayodhya railway station on his arrival there by the presidential train from Lucknow at around 11am.
Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya accompanied them. Senior officials of the Ayodhya administration welcomed the vice-president. Members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust were also present.
In a tweet, the Vice President’s Secretariat said, “The Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu and his spouse Smt Usha Naidu at the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple site in Ayodhya today. They were accompanied by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh Smt Anandiben Patel and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya.”
Naidu and his wife went straight to the Ram Janmabhoomi site from the railway station.
Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, member of the Trust, welcomed them. Thereafter, Champat Rai, general secretary of the Trust, gave a presentation on the upcoming Ram temple on an LED screen.
Rai explained in detail the ongoing construction work of the Ram temple, its design and the final structure that would come up.
After the presentation, the vice-president performed puja at the makeshift Ram temple and attended aarti.
Acharya Satyendra Das, head priest of the makeshift temple, and other priests performed the puja with Vedic rituals.
The vice-president took a round of the Ram Janmabhoomi campus. He also enquired about the sanctum sanctorum. Rai explained various construction activities.
Naidu posed for pictures with a team of engineers and construction workers. From the Ram Janmabhoomi campus, the vice- president visited Hanumangarhi temple where the head priest Prem Das welcomed him and his wife. The vice-president performed aarti of lord Hanuman there.
Next, the vice-president reached Saryu ghat and performed puja there.
After a brief break, he left for Varanasi by the presidential train at around 2.45pm.
Earlier, the vice-president had reached Lucknow from New Delhi on Thursday (April 14) on a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh.