Ayodhya Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan: LK Advani Says 'A Dream Close To My Heart'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on Wednesday at the auspicious time between 12:30 and 12:40 pm. While Ayodhya will host PM Modi along with other dignitaries and 135 saints from across the country, the rest of the nation will observe Diwali-like festivities. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh staff declared that they would light up their homes and mark the day as the second Diwali.

In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, LK Advani, once the face of the temple movement will attend through video-conference. He said that, "It is a historic and emotional day for him and all Indians. Destiny made me perform a crucial duty in the form of Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990, which helped galvanize the hopes, and passions of its innumerable participants."

He further added that "It is also my belief that Shri Ram Mandir will represent India as a powerful, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation with justice for all and exclusion of no one, so that we can truly set in motion Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance."

Shri Ram occupies an esteemed place in India's cultural and civilisational heritage and is an embodiment of grace, dignity, and decorum. It is my belief that this temple will inspire all Indians to imbibe His virtues.

Besides PM Modi, 50 VIPs including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of BJP's political mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will attend the ceremony. Iqbal Ansari, the litigant of the decades-old temple-mosque conflict, was the first person to be invited by the Trust.