Ram Lala idol to be installed in Ayodhya Ram temple's sanctum-sanctorum on January 24, 2024

The idols of Ram Lala would be installed at the sanctum-sanctorum of the under-construction Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 24, 2024.

Chief priest at the makeshift Ram Temple Acharya Satyendra Das said that the construction of the sanctum-sanctorum would begin on June 1. ''The five-day long rituals during which special puja is being performed has already started. Seers and priests from different parts of the country have been performing the puja,'' Das said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also likely to take part in the ceremony on June 1.

Das said that the date of January 24, 2024 was selected as it was the most auspicious for shifting the Ram Lala to his new home. ''The sanctum-sanctorum will be completed by December 2023 and the temple will also be opened for the devotees in the same month,'' he added.

''The entire complex of the Temple will be completed by the end of 2025,'' said an office-bearer of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which was overseeing the construction work.

Sources said that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the BJP wanted the Ram Temple to be completed before the 2024 general elections. Prime minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in August 2020.

The timing of the possible opening of the Ram Temple for the devotees assumes significance as the next general elections are scheduled to be held in May 2024 in which the Modi government will be seeking a third term in office.

Although state BJP leaders refused to comment, when queried in this regard, sources said that the saffron party was 'certain' that the Ram Temple would be ready well before the next Lok Sabha polls. ''We would like to see the Ram Temple ready before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls....we had promised that we would build Ram Temple at Ayodhya,'' said a state BJP leader here.