Ayodhya Ram Mandir news Highlights: Tripura announces half-day holiday on Jan 22

In anticipation of the Ayodhya Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, Reliance Industries has declared a holiday for all its offices nationwide on January 22

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Rohit Kumar Singh, has initiated action against Amazon Seller Services, concerning the sale of sweets on www.amazon.in under the name 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.'

As per an official statement of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the action has been initiated based on a representation made by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleging that Amazon is engaging in deceptive trade practices involving the sale of sweets under the guise of 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad'.

Ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, beds have been reserved at city-based, district hospitals and the medical college here, and specialists from the AIIMS have provided focused emergency response training to the doctors at healthcare institutions in Ayodhya.

These beds have been reserved for the guests, who will attend the the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the newly-built Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, officials said.

The BJP on Friday accused the TMC government of impeding programmes to celebrate the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22, triggering a strong denial from the TMC.

The Calcutta High Court's approval of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's harmony rally on Monday, coinciding with the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya, has fueled a heated exchange of verbal jabs between the ruling party and the opposition in the state.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP alleged on Friday that the police have been denying permission for Ram Puja organisers in various parts of the state on what he deemed "flimsy grounds."

In preparation for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram Temple, the Uttarakhand government has announced that all government offices and educational institutions in the state will be shut till 2:30 pm on January 22.

The decision aims to facilitate the participation of employees in the historic event.

Likewise, educational institutes in the State will also be shut, the State government said.

"In view of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held in Ayodhya on January 22, all government offices in Uttarakhand, like the Central Government, will remain closed till 2.30 pm," read the Uttarakhand government advisory.

The Reserve Bank on Friday said money markets will open at 2.30 pm instead of 9 am on January 22, with the government announcing a half-day holiday in connection with the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

In view of the half-day closing on January 22 announced by the Government of India, the trading hours for the various markets regulated by the Reserve Bank of India have also been truncated, according to a circular.

Hanuman Garhi temple priest Mahant Raju Das on Friday called Congress leader Digvijaya Singh 'anti-Ram' and said that he has been finding faults in everything since the beginning of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

The remarks came after Digvijaya Singh stoked a fresh controversy ahead of the "Pran Pratishtha" ceremony at Ayodhya Ram Mandir, saying the Ram Lalla idol being seated in the temple does not look like a child.

"All the idols will remain there only. Because the idol was in 'Bal Swaroop', people faced difficulty in 'Darshan'. So the trust tried to give it magnificence. The main issue was the Janmabhoomi. There is no scarcity of temples in Ayodhya. I want to tell people like Digvijaya Singh, who tried to divide society on the basis of caste, to come to Ayodhya and look at the temples," Mahant Raju Das told ANI.

As the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya inches closer, people are celebrating it with much enthusiasm. Recently, a video showcasing passengers on an IndiGo flight singing Ram Aayenge went viral on Instagram. The clip was shared by MyGov, Government of India's official page. Read More

The week-long vedic rituals for the pran-pratishtha (consecration ceremony) of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple entered their fourth day on Friday with the lighting of the holy fire at 9am followed by the establishment of 'Navagraha' and a 'Havan'. Read More

The Tripura government declared a half-day holiday in the state on January 22 in view of the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya, officials said on Friday.

The state government issued a notification late on Thursday night regarding the closure of offices till 2.30 pm on January 22, they said.

"On the line of notification of the Centre, the state government has decided to declare holiday in all government offices and institutions to witness the pran pratistha of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya on January 22 till 2.30 pm," Secretariat Administration Department's Deputy Secretary Ashim Saha said in the notification.

The first image of the Ram Lalla idol became public on Friday, three days before the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony here on January 22.

The statue carved in black stone has its eyes covered with a yellow cloth and is adorned with a garland of roses, Sharad Sharma, an office-bearer of the Vishva Hindu Parishad told PTI.

In the picture released by VHP, Ram Lalla is in a standing posture.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday flagged off five trucks carrying five lakh laddus, prepared at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, to Ayodhya for the consecration of the Ram temple.

Yadav, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues, waved saffron flags to roll out the trucks, shaped like chariots and decorated with pictures of Lord Ram, amid chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The laddus weigh about 50 gm each, and the entire consignment is 250 quintals, an official of Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple told PTI.

Following Congress leader Digvijay Singh's remarks on the newly seated Shri Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya's Ram Temple, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti has said that Singh's words have lost importance and such people who keep speaking unnecessarily should not be talked about.

Digvijay Singh has stoked a fresh controversy ahead of the "Pran Pratishtha" ceremony at Ayodhya Ram Mandir, saying the Ram Lalla idol being seated in the temple does not look like a child.

Uma Bharti, while speaking to ANI, said, "He (Digvijaya Singh) has a habit of saying something or another. His words have lost importance. Let us not talk about such people who keep speaking unnecessarily and waste our time."

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath visits Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya and inspects arrangements ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on January 22.

“We all are waiting for January 22. Lord Ram will return to his birthplace, Ayodhya, after 500 years. I congratulate 140 crore citizens of India on this special occasion,” Union minister Piyush Goyal said.

The week-long vedic rituals for the pran-pratishtha (consecration ceremony) of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple entered their fourth day on Friday with the lighting of the holy fire at 9am followed by the establishment of 'Navagraha' and a 'Havan'.

According to Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust overseeing the temple construction and administration, said that on day 4 of the vedic rituals, deities like Ganapati would be worshipped along with the recitation of Vedas of all the branches.

The idol of Lord Ram Lalla, which was placed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on Thursday, will be given 'Aushdhadhiwas' (medicinal abode), 'Kesaradhiwas' (saffron abode), 'Dhritashiwas' (Dhrita abode), and 'Pushpadhiwas' (flower abode) today. After this, the idol would be kept in saffron and later in grains. Read more

PM Modi urged 90,000 people who got home today across Maharashtra in Prime Minister Awas Yojna to celebrate the Ram temple inauguration on January 22 by lightning Ram Jyoti.

“Ram Jyoti will be an inspiration to remove poverty from their lives,” PM Modi said during a speech.

Saint Badri pulls the chariot of Lord Ram using his braid as he travels 566 km from Damoh to Ayodhya for the grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony on January 22.

Former Karnataka CM @BSBommai releases a Ram bhajan in Bengaluru ahead of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, scheduled for January 22.

Visitors are covering long distances to reach Ayodhya by several means. People cutting across religion are walking, cycling and even skating to reach the temple town and attend the consecration of Lord Ram on January 22.

"It took me seven days to cover 615 kilometres from Bihar to Ayodhya. I have reached today. I was carrying a sleeping bag and some essentials with me on my cycle only to help me take some breaks on the way. I had decided to do this when the Supreme Court verdict came, I was still in school then," a visitor told PTI who had been cycling to the city.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a high-level team to Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya to deal with cyber threats ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in the historical town on January 22.

As per sources, the joint team includes officials of MHA's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and experts in cyber matters.

The move comes amid alerts issued by the cyber security wing of the Union Home Ministry urging citizens to be cautious of "malicious mobile applications" sent on WhatsApp by cyber criminals on VIP entry to the Ayodhya temple. Read more

It is all that is left of Mohammad Shahid’s childhood; a hulking arc of rusting metal, jutting out of a sea of weeds and cracked bricks. It was once a home that was flourishing; a home with a courtyard; the home of an important man — the last imam of the Babri Masjid, Haji Abdul Gaffar Khan, Shahid’s grandfather. Today, there is only a crumbling wall that separates it from the road, overrun by creepers and time, and the skeletal frame of a charred window.

Shahid remembers looking out that window 32 years ago, petrified. He remembers the communal frenzy that blanketed Ayodhya and the mob that began to assemble. He remembers sprinting breathlessly behind his father, Mohammad Sabir, weaving one way and then the other, as menacing crowds marched through the streets. The family had been preparing for a wedding and the courtyard was festive. But the riots didn’t spare his father and uncle. Then 21, Shahid fled town with his mother Taibunnisa Begum. By the time they returned, their home had been set ablaze. The only constant in the neighbourhood since then has been a thicket of police barricades. Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has adopted a strict regime ahead of the consecration of the Ram temple, people aware of developments said on Thursday, adding that the 73-year-old was sleeping on the floor and consuming only coconut water.

”It’s true,’” was all that a spokesperson for the prime minister said. He also confirmed Modi’s choice of coconut water was part of the satvik diet which is compulsory to conduct the ceremony. Read more

With only four days left to the grand opening of Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on January 22, people from across the country are gearing up to visit the temple town to witness the monumental consecration ceremony of Lord Ram.

Ayodhya has been decked up with all sorts of decorations to welcome visitors as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the ceremony as a special guest and inaugurate the temple. The city is adorned with vibrant flowers on Thursday in preparation for the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. Read more

Governments in Chhattisgarh and Tripura have also announced a half-day holiday in their states for January 22 to mark the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Schools in Tripura will also remained closed till 2:30 pm on that day.