Amid chanting of hymns and shlokas, the idol of Ram Lalla and other deities were shifted from the makeshift temple atop garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) to a temporary structure near Manas Bhawan in Ram Janmabhoomi premises on the first day of Navratra on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and saints from Ayodhya were present when the idols were shifted to the new location at Brahma muhurt.
The chief minister presented a cheque of Rs 11 lakh for the construction of a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Before shifting the idols, the saints and priests held a brief Vedic ritual at and around 4 am. Later, the idol of Ram Lalla was shifted to the new temporary temple and Yogi Adityanath, who is also Mahant of Gorakshnath peeth, placed it on a 9-kg silver throne brought from Jaipur.
The idols would remain in the bullet-proof temporary temple till the proposed Ram temple is constructed. The makeshift temple is around 250 metres away from the old makeshift temple which was made after the demolition of Babri mosque on December 6, 1992.
The idols were put inside the disputed site on the night of December 22, 1949 and placed below the middle dome of the Babri Mosque after Isha prayers.
The chief minister told reporters that the construction of the grand Ram temple would commence soon.
Among others present on the occasion were members of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and all senior saints and members of Ayodhya movement .
Trust general secretary Champat Rai told media persons in Lucknow on Wednesday that rituals to shift Ram Lalla started around 2 am and the idols were placed on the throne at the new temple during Brahma muhurt at 4 am.
Around 15 priests from Delhi, Prayagraj, Mathura, Kashi and Ayodhya started the rituals from Monday morning and it culminated on Wednesday morning .
Rai said that while darshan at the new temple was started from 7 am on Wednesday, pilgrims would not be allowed as there was total ban on entry of outsiders in Ayodhya due to lockdown across the country in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
A programme is on the anvil to organise a major bhoomi pujan of Ram temple on April 30 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat are likely to be present.
