Procession with tableaux on Ram Lalla before main ceremony

Ayodhya, Dec 11: A procession with a tableaux depicting various episodes of the Ramayana, will be taken out on January 17, 2024 in Ayodhya, ahead of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla’s idol on January 22.

The most important part of the procession, however, will be the finally selected statue of Ram Lalla that will be seated in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum after the culmination of the procession.

Statues in the tableaux will be based on 100 episodes from the Ramayana.

Ranjit Mandal, the chief sculptor engaged in preparing the tableaux, said: “I am fortunate to have got the opportunity to prepare these idols. More than 60 idols have been prepared thus far. These statues depict Lord Ram’s life at gurukul, then in exile and finally his conquest of Ravan’s Lanka.”

Anil Mishra, member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, said: “Ram Lalla’s throne will be placed on a lotus flower pedestal made of marble, which has also been installed in the sanctum sanctorum.”

He said that the throne’s height will be fixed on the basis of rotation of earth and sun. The height of the throne will be decided by the experts on this basis.

"This will be done to ensure that on the day of Ram Navami, exactly at 12 noon, the sun’s rays touch the forehead of Ram Lalla idol and illuminate the sanctum sanctorum of the temple,” Mishra said.

On Friday, the Ram temple Trust will select the best idol from among the three being sculpted by three different sculptors at three different places in the temple town.

"Three idols are being carved from two rocks brought from Karnataka and Rajasthan. The idols are 90 per cent ready and are being given finishing touches. The best idol chosen from among the three on December 15 will be consecrated in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple,” Trust general secretary Champat Rai said.

The three idols are being made by renowned sculptors Ganesh Bhatt, Arun Yogiraj and Satyanarayan Pandey.

It has also been decided to develop the local Ram Katha Sangharalaya as a worldclass museum.

Chief Curator of National Museum, Sanjeev Singh, has been tasked to develop the museum.