Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi won't attend consecration ceremony on Jan 24: Ram temple trust chief

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): BJP stalwarts, former deputy prime minister LK Advani and Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, won't attend the grand consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya next month, the temple trust informed on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Champat Rai, the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, said Advani (96) and Joshi, who will turn 90 next month, were requested not to attend the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 24, next year, on grounds of age and health.

Advani and Joshi were at the forefront of the Ram Temple movement that eventually culminated in the Supreme Court deciding the decades-old title dispute case in favour of the Hindu in a landmark ruling by a five-judge Constitution Bench on November 9, 2019.

The court ruled that the disputed land be given to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.

The court also ordered that the Muslim side be compensated with five acres of land to build a mosque.

"Both are elders in the (Sangh) family and considering their age, they have been requested not to come (to Ayodhya for the consecration event). Both have accepted our request," Rai told reporters here on Monday.

He said all preparations for the consecration ceremony, which is to be headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be completed by January 15, next year.

"The puja for Pran Pratishtha will begin on January 16 and will continue till January 22, 2024," the general secretary of the temple trust, informed.

Prime Minister Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. Preparations are underway in full swing for the event, which will draw dignitaries and people from all walks of life.

(ANI)