With the commencement of the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Hindu devotees of Lord Ram, along with the BJP members, embarked upon a new Rath Yatra, this time from the southern holy city of Rameswaram to the temple town Ayodhya, said a report published in RSS affiliate ‘The Organiser’. The Rath Yatra was flagged off on September 17, coinciding with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ‘Rath Yatra’ will be different in a sense that it would be carrying a Bronze bell emblazoned with “Jai Shri Ram” and weighing around 613 kilograms. It will also be carrying idols of Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshaman, Hanuman to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Rath Yatra to pass through different states before reaching Ayodhya
South Zone BJP Election in-charge Nainar Nagendran, Ramanathapuram district president Muralidharan flagged off the Rath yatra on 17th September which would pass through different cities of Tamil Nadu and other states before finally arriving at Ayodhya.
The city of Rameswaram has a special significance in the Hindu mythology, with it being the place from where Lord Ram and his Vanara Sena started the construction of the bridge on that connected the Indian subcontinent to the island nation of Sri Lanka. Rameswaram was the place where Lord Ram offered prayers and performed pooja and other rituals. It has historical and cultural importance and served as a geographical link between the northern and southern India.
Rajalakshmi Mandha, General Secretary of Chennai based Legal Rights Group, donated the 613-kilogram heavy bronze bell, along with the idols of Lord Ram, Sita, Hanuman and Lakshman. The idols and bell are made out of copper metal. A well-decorated chariot has been prepared, which will carry the idols and the bell to Ayodhya. Before the start of the yatra, special poojas were performed in front of Ramanathar Mandir at Rameswaram.
Bells to be donated by Andhra Pradesh and other states to be installed at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya
Also, another bronze bell weighing 600 kilograms is being prepared at Eral Ramakrishna Nadar vessel merchant store. Similarly, bells from Andhra Pradesh and other states would also be installed at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Earlier, a similar Rath Yatra was carried out by the then BJP president L K Advani, who started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Kashmir, demanding the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Janma Bhoomi site where the Mughal invaders had built a mosque dedicated to Babri.
However, this time around, the yatra is carried out after the completion of Bhoomi pujan ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya that marks the official construction of the temple. PM Modi had laid the foundation stone on August 5 this year. This ground-breaking ceremony happened following the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment last year, settling the long-drawn-out conflict and permitting the Hindus to build a temple to Lord Ram at the Janmabhoomi site.
