Guests to get Ram temple's soil as 'gift' on consecration ceremony

Lucknow: All the guests coming to the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple on January 22 will be given 'Ramraj', the soil extracted during the temple’s foundation laying, as a ‘gift’, the Uttar Pradesh government said on Saturday.

A member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be presented with a 15-metre-long picture of the Ram temple packed in a jute bag.

The soil of Ram Janmabhoomi will be packed in small boxes and gifted to the guests attending the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony along with ‘motichoor laddos’ made of ‘desi ghee’ as prasad, according to an official statement.

The trust member said more than 11,000 guests from across the country have been invited for the consecration ceremony on January 22 and they will be given “memorable gifts” such as 'Ramraj' It is a matter of good fortune to have this soil in any house. They will be able to use this “sacred gift” in their home gardens or pots, he said.

Invitees who will not be able to attend the ceremony due to some reason will be given the Ramraj whenever they visit the temple in Ayodhya, the member said.

Meanwhile, Ayodhya Divisional Commissioner Gaurav Dayal said arrangements have been made to seat 7,500 people in the temple premises for the ceremony.

Special guests coming to Ayodhya will be given a code and their seating arrangements will be made based on this code, he said.

Dayal also said the priest of Varanasi will conduct the 'Pran Pratishtha' programme. He will be accompanied by four trustees and four priests.