Ram Navami is being celebrated at the newly-built Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya for the first time on Wednesday. The auspicious occasion is all set to be more special by ‘Surya Tilak’ of Ram Lalla, when the sun’s rays will fall on the forehead of the deity’s idol at noon.
The ‘Surya Tilak’ will take place from 12:16 pm to 12:21 pm when sun rays would be captured and diverted via a series of optical apparatus on the forehead of Ram Lalla’s idol placed in the ‘garbh griha’.
The sun rays would shine on the forehead of Ram Lalla for around four minutes in a circular form spanning 75 millimetres.
“The exact period of tilak on the forehead centre is about three to three-and-a-half minutes, with two minutes of full illumination,” said Dr S K Panigrahi, a scientist at CSIR-CBRI Roorkee, who was associated with the project.
A member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Anil Mishra, said, “During the Surya tilak, devotees will be allowed inside the Ram temple. Around 100 LEDs are being put up by the temple trust, and 50 by the government, which will show the Ram Navami celebrations. People will be able to see the celebrations from where they are present.”
To avoid inconvenience and wastage of time during darshan, devotees have been advised not to bring their mobile phones and other valuable items.
A service centre has been set up by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust at the entrance of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in front of Birla Dharamshala below Sugriva Fort, in which public facilities are available.
The live telecast of the programs being conducted on the birth anniversary of Ram Lalla and Ram Navami festival in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple will be done through LEDs at about 80 to 100 places in the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation area.
The event will also be aired live on Doordarshan for those watching from home. Live broadcasts will also be available on the Trust's social media platforms.
General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai said that this work has been done by Prasar Bharati on behalf of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the convenience of the devotees.
The Trust has requested the devotees to enjoy all the programmes only on the day of Ram Navami, sitting at home or wherever they are, on mobile, television and through LEDs installed at various places.
The Ram Mandir will remain open for 20 hours starting from Mangala Aarti at 3.00 a.m. on Wednesday till 11 pm. After that there will be Bhog and Shayan Aarti. After Shayan Aarti, prasad will be available at the exit gate of the temple. The curtains of the temple will be drawn for five minutes each during the four ‘bhog’ offerings to the Lord.
There will be no arrangement for VIP darshan for four days for the darshan of Ramlala, and the passes issued between April 15 to 18 April, will also be considered cancelled.
On Wednesday morning, the temple authorities posted pictures of ‘divya abhishek‘ of Ram Lalla.