Adorned with gold, ruby, emerald and flowers, the 51-inch Ram Lalla idol was revealed today shortly before the grand ‘pran pratistha’ ceremony at the Ayodhya temple today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is leading the consecration ceremony, offered his prayers to the deity, flanked by several saints in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was also present.
After PM Modi on Monday performed the pran pratishtha of Lord Ram Lalla at the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayodhya Ram Temple, the first look of the 51-inch idol was revealed to the world. The idol has been sculpted by Karnataka’s Arun Yogiraj portraying Ram Lalla as a five-year-old.
The Ram Lalla idol on the ground floor of the new temple represents five-yea-old Ram. The first floor of the temple, which is yet to be built, will have the idol of Raja Ram, along with Sita, Laxman and Hanuman.
The idol has been decked with jewellery — several jewellery pieces from head to feet. On its hands, there is a golden bow and arrow. The forehead is adorned with silver and red tilak.
Ram Lalla is clad in a yellow dhoti the colour of which blended with the yellow of flowers and the yellow of the dazzling jewellery. Intricate flower decoration stood out even amid the majestic jewellery with which the idol has been decked up.
The idol is black as it has been carved out of black stone. This is in keeping with how Lord Ram has been described in the scriptures.
The idol is heavily jewelled to reflect the royal trait of Lord Ram.
The idol shows Lord Ram as a five-year-old because in Hindu scriptures this age is considered as the age of innocence.
The idol is 51-inch tall — the approximate height of a five-year-old at that time.
Ram Lalla has a gold bow and arrow in his hands.
Though Ram Lalla idol’s hands are folded, they are designed such that they reach the idol’s knees as Lord Ram was ‘ajanubahu’.
In the scriptures, Lord Ram’s eyes have been described as lotus eyes. Sculptor Ayun Yogiraj conformed to that description in designing the eyes of the Lord Ram Lalla idol.
A galaxy of film stars, sportspersons, musicians, industrialists and other noted personalities have reached the holy town for the ground consecration ceremony. Over 11,000 invitations have been sent out to noted personalities.
