Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5, said Swami Govind Dev Giri of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra on Wednesday.
Keeping in view of the COVID19 pandemic and to ensure maximum social distancing at the foundation laying event, it has been decided that not more than 200 people including 150 invitees would be allowed to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony.
A media report quoted Swami Govind Dev Giri, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra, as saying: “We have decided that there will not be more than 200 people including 150 invitees at the event.”
Giri made the announcement on the foundation laying ceremony at Pune.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra is a trust set up by the Centre to oversee the construction of the temple.
According to Giri, Prime Minister Modi will offer prayers to Lord Ram at the temple and Lord Hanuman at Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya before laying the foundation stone for the construction of the temple.
All chief ministers from different states will be invited to the event, Swami Govind Dev Giri said.
Giri informed that the trust will invite former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar.
It has been reported that elaborate preparations are being planned for the three-day Vedic rituals at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya.
The rituals will begin on August 3 and end with a ‘bhumi pujan’ on August 5.
An 11-member team of priests from Varanasi and Ayodhya will perform the three-day rituals.