MP celebrates Ram Lalla idol consecration with devotional chants; CM offers prayers at Orchha temple

Bhopal: With the chants of "Jai Shri Ram", devotional songs and prayers, people across Madhya Pradesh celebrated the consecration of the new Ram Lalla idol at the Ayodhya temple on Monday.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav watched the consecration ceremony virtually from the Ram Raja Temple in Orchha town of MP.

Yadav was accompanied by former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan as both of them offered prayers at the temple in Orchha, which is also called as Chhoti Ayodhya, in Niwari district of the state.

Devotees believe that Lord Ram stays at Orchha during the day and goes to Ayodhya in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh at night.

Orchha town is popularly known as Raja Ram's kingdom and is believed to be the only place in the country where Lord Ram is worshipped as a beloved king and not just a god.

A Guard of Honour is held thrice everyday by local police in the honour of the temple's deity, as per the temple sources.

In the morning, 'prabhat pheris' (group processions) were taken out in localities of various districts where men, women and children dressed in colourful attires and holding saffron flags sang devotional songs in praise of Lord Ram amid the beating of drums.

Soon after the consecration ceremony, devotees burst firecrackers across the state to celebrate the "pran pratishtha" of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.

Temples across MP wore a festive look with the fragrance of incense sticks filling the air around them.

Since morning, people flocked temples in various cities of the state to offer prayers and greeted each other with the chants of "Jai Shri Ram" and recited 'Sundar kand', one of the chapters in the Hindu epic Ramayan devoted to Lord Hanuman.

CM Yadav on Sunday appealed to the people to make the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya a historic event.

Schools and colleges in MP were closed on Monday, which has also been declared as a dry day. Slaughterhouses and shops selling meat and fish also remained shut.

The urban development department had issued a directive to civic bodies to ensure that meat shops and slaughterhouses remain closed on Monday.

The MP government has also ordered the closure of its offices and institutions for half a day.

Government offices will remain closed till 2.30 pm so that people can participate in the Ram temple consecration celebrations, said a government notification issued last week.