Culture and History

As per schedule, the puja rituals will finally culminate on 17th January when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will walk through the Jagannath Puri temple corridor in the afternoon and officially declare it open for devotees.

Ayodhya is known for its multi-faith culturalism, reflected in the existence of mosques, Hindu temples, Jain pilgrim centres—all interspresed in the holy land, known for being the birthplace of Lord Ram.

Locals, including the family members of martyr karsevaks say that Balrampur's former MP Munnan Khan was activey involved in targeting and killing the devotees.

Mahavir Prasad Agrawal's wife had to search fanatically for her missing husband on that fateful day. She finally found his body in a police vehicle full of corpses of karsevaks.

Baba Satyanarayan Mourya, who coined 'Ram Lalla Hum Aayenge Mandir Wahin Banaenge' slogan received invitation for the consecration ceremony.

Dilip Godambe also participated in the Karsewa with Shalini Dabir. He says that those who talk about building a hospital there do not know the value of that soil.

VHP and other Hindu organisations have embarked on another unique campaign. Since all devotees cannot be accommodated in Ayodhya, the Temple Trust is sending symbolic 'Nimantran' or invitations to all Ram Bhakts, with the auspicious traditional 'Akshat', a pamphlet and a photo of the Ram Mandir.

After opening an account here, people need to follow some rules. The bank gives account holders red ink and a wooden pen called a kalam. Devotees can only write the name of Lord Ram between 4 am to 7 am. They have to write the name exactly 1.25 lakh times, completing this task within eight months and ten days. During this period, devotees are not allowed to eat non-vegetarian food, as well as food containing onion and garlic. However, the rules may vary as per different branches. 

Hariom Singh suspects his uncle's body was thrown into the Saryu River by police officers deployed in Ayodhya back then.

During his Mann ki Baat address, PM Modi had urged people to upload creative work on Ram Mandir with hashtag #ShriRamBhajan on social media.