Puja offered at Agriculture land at Aarohalli in Mysuru taluk, where the stone for the statue of Ayodhya Sri Baal Ram was picked on Wednesday.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Mysuru: The agriculture land at Aarohalli in Mysuru, where the black stone was extracted for sculpting the Ram Lalla idol at Ayodhya, has become a holy place after owner of the land built a temporary shed, placed a photo of Ayodhya Ram Lalla, and performed a puja with his family.
On Wednesday, at least 400 people gathered to offer pooja in celebration of the first anniversary of the statue's installation at Ayodhya's Ram temple. G T Devegowda, MLA of Chamundeshwari assembly constituency, joined the ceremony, and the priest of Palace Ganesha Temple, SV Prahlad Rao, performed the ritual.
While the Bhoomi Puja for the Sri Rama temple on the land was conducted last year on January 22, construction was halted due to some issues. Now, the land's owner, 80-year-old H Ramadas, plans to build a small temple on the land. However, MLA Devegowda has assured of getting necessary support to build a bigger temple.
Speaking to DH, Ramadas recalled, "The stone was found in survey number 196-197 in our land. We had asked a mining agency to clear the stone in the land for agriculture purpose. But later, even as people were looking for Krishna Shile, for sculpting the Ayodhya Baala Ram statue, they picked the stone found in our land. Later they picked four more stones to sculpt the statues of Seetha, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shathrugna. We did not take any money for the stones."
He continued, "People have been regularly visiting the place and offering puja. I have decided to donate four gunta land where the stone was found to build the temple. My four sons have also agreed to it. We had decided to build a small temple or mantapa at the land with our own expenses, but MLA G T Devegowda has assured of getting necessary support to build a bigger temple by registering a trust and the land to it. If that doesn't happen, we have decided to build the temple on our own, by forming a family trust. We wish Ayodhya Baal Ram statue sculptor Arun Yogiraj sculpts statue for this temple too."
Meanwhile, Devegowda has reaffirmed his support to providing the necessary assistance for the construction of a larger temple at the site.
Sculptor Arun Yogiraj has also confirmed he is ready to create the statue of Sri Ram for the new temple