AYODHYA
:
President Droupadi Murmu
offered prayers and performed aarti before Ram Lalla’s idol amid chanting of mantras Wednesday, a day after Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai denied the allegation made by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi that she was not invited to the consecration of the
Ram temple
“as she is a tribal”.
Later, the President’s official handle on ‘X’ described the temple as “an embodiment of the
cultural values
of our society”.
‘Prez got access to area reserved for priests’
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai had described Rahul’s remark as “completely false, baseless and misleading” and asserted that Prez was indeed invited for the Jan 22 ceremony.
After Murmu’s visit — her first to the newly-built Ram temple — the Trust said in a statement that in its own way it had given a “befitting reply” to those alleging that she was not invited for the consecration ceremony. “Under a special arrangement, Prez got the opportunity to be next to the idol inside the sanctum sanctorum, a place reserved only for the priests and where the prime minister was present during the consecration ceremony,” the Trust said.
After the Ayodhya visit, a post on the official handle of Prez of India on ‘X’ quoted her, recalling Lord Ram’s encounters with Kewat and Shabri, the two mythological characters in Ramayan belonging to MBC and tribal communities, respectively.
“I am unable to describe my feelings in words after witnessing Ram Lalla in his majestic form at the Ram temple. I recall the deeply touching episodes such as the dialogue between Lord Ram and Kewat, Shabri’s jujube episode among others. Ram temple is an embodiment of the cultural values of our society which encourages all individuals to work for the larger interest of society. In this era and time, we are lucky to be a part of the nation’s holistic development and progress,” the post quoted Murmu as saying.
Temple trust members presented a miniature replica of Ram temple and a framed photo of the Ram Lalla idol to Murmu. After her arrival around 4pm at the Ayodhya airport, Murmu’s first stop was the
Hanuman Garhi temple
. Next, she visited the banks of the Saryu and attended the grand evening aarti, offering a garland of flowers to the river. She visited as part of the aarti. After the aarti Prez visited the Ram temple.
Before leaving for Delhi, Murmu also paid obeisance at Kuber Teela and to the statue of celestial bird
Jatayu
in the temple town.
