On Tuesday, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a right-wing Hindu organisation, announced its plan to invite over 25 lakh Hindu families from Central India to participate in the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in January 2023. The ceremony will mark the installation of the idol of Lord Ram in the temple that is being built after a long legal and political battle.
According to a press release issued by the VHP, the organisation received the Akshat Kalash, a sacred vessel filled with yellow rice, that was worshipped in the Ram temple on November 5. The Akshat Kalash was distributed among the representatives of 32 districts of Central India at a program held at Gufa Mandir, Lal Ghati, in Bhopal on November 21.
The VHP workers, along with other Hindu groups, will visit Hindu families in the cities and villages of the state between January 1 and January 15 with the Akshat Kalash to invite them to join the consecration program.
VHP has also urged the Hindu community to celebrate the consecration day as the second Diwali, as it will be the day when Lord Ram will return to his birthplace after 500 years.
The organisation appealed to Lord Rama devotees to light at least five lamps on the night of January 22 and watch the live telecast of the grand program of Ayodhya. It has also advised the devotees to regard the temple of their locality or village as a symbol of Ayodhya and perform puja, worship and rituals there, chanting the victory mantra of “Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram” and joining the Aarti.
The VHP has divided the country into 45 parts and requested each part to visit Ayodhya on a fixed day between January 27 to February 22. In this sequence, arrangements have been made for the darshan of about 2500 people from Central India on February 17, next year.
The organisation urged every Hindu family to make a pilgrimage to Ayodhya and have a darshan of the Ram temple at least once in their lifetime.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad also expressed its hope that the Ram temple would inspire harmony, unity and self-respect among the Hindus across the world and would serve as a national temple to lead India towards ultimate glory.
