Ahmedabad:

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday that his party will defeat the BJP in Gujarat in the next election the same way it did in Ayodhya in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha made the remark while addressing a party workers’ convention in Ahmedabad.

“They (BJP) have challenged us by threatening us and damaging our office. Let me tell you that we are together going to break their government like they damaged our office. Take it in writing that Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya,” Mr Gandhi said.

Congress will win Gujarat, and make a new start from the state, he said.

He was referring to a clash that broke out between members of both Congress and BJP outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Congress’s state headquarters, in Paldi area of Ahmedabad on July 2 after BJP’s youth wing members came there to protest against Mr Gandhi’s remarks on Hindus.

According to police, both sides engaged in stone-pelting, in which five policemen, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, were injured.

In his speech, the former Congress chief also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP’s defeat from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya is located.

“People of Ayodhya felt angry when they found that not a single local person was invited for the Ram Mandir’s inauguration,” he said.

He also claimed that PM Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against doing so saying he will be defeated and his political career will end. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Six months after the grand opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the first round of showers has caused heavy waterlogging in the temple town raising questions over its swift and massive infrastructure overhaul.

The newly built Ram Path road in Ayodhya – which leads to the Ram Temple – has suffered several cave-ins since seasonal rain hit the temple town.

After potholes came up on the 14-km stretch, authorities said they immediately got the road repaired to avoid any inconvenience for the devotees. The Yogi Adityanath government has suspended six civic officials over “gross negligence,” officials said.

Ayodhya mayor Girish Pati Tripathi said that efforts to flush out the rainwater were launched soon after the waterlogging was reported.

Leakage was also reported at the temple after heavy rain at midnight last Saturday. The Chief Priest of the Ram Temple, had on Monday claimed that rainwater that was leaking from the roof of the temple was collecting inside the complex. He also claimed that there was no arrangement to flush out the rainwater from the temple premises.

Rejecting the leakage claims, Champat Rai, General Secretary of the Temple Trust, however, said “not a single drop of water” dripped from the roof, nor had water entered the Sanctum Sanctorum or ‘Garbha Griha’.from anywhere. He also said that “excellent arrangements” have been made at the temple to drain rainwater.

Mr Rai said that while it appeared that water was leaking from the roof, it was in fact coming from a conduit pipe due to ongoing construction work on the first floor of the temple.

Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee, had earlier said that the alleged water leakage at the Ram Mandir was “expected because the Guru Mandap is exposed to the sky” as the construction work was still on, but the water never entered the ‘Garbha Griha’.

“I am in Ayodhya. I saw the rainwater falling from the first floor. This is expected because Guru Mandap is exposed to the sky as the second floor and completion of Shikhar will cover this opening. There is no drainage in the Sanctum Santorum because all the Mandaps have measured slope for clearance of water and the water in Sanctum Santorum is manually absorbed,” Mr Mishra had told ANI on Monday.

The opposition leaders, however, were quick to pounce on the BJP, alleging that there was large scale corruption in the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. ”Even the places of worship are sources of loot for the BJP,” UP Congress President Ajay Rai said.

The Ram Temple in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22. Considered the birthplace of Lord Ram, Ayodhya’s Ram Temple is one of the holiest sites in Hindusim.

Ayodhya:

Water was leaking from the roof of the sanctum sanctorum at the Ram temple after the first heavy showers since it was opened to the public, its chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said on Monday.

Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Acharya Das claimed that there was also no arrangement for the drainage of rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight and urged the temple authorities to take necessary corrective measures.

After the senior officials were informed about the incident of water leaking from the roof, the chairman of the temple construction committee, Nripendra Mishra, reached the temple and gave instructions to repair the roof and make them waterproof, temple trust sources said.

Speaking separately to reporters about the progress of temple construction, Mr Mishra said that work on the first floor was on and will be finished by July this year, and expressed the hope that the construction of the temple will be completed by December.

Acharya Satyendra Das told reporters there was heavy leakage from the roof of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum in the first heavy showers that occurred at midnight on Saturday. Rainwater was leaking from the roof directly above the place where the priest sits in front of Ram Lalla’s idol and where people come for VIP darshan, he said.

“It is very surprising that engineers from all over the country are building the Ram temple. The temple was inaugurated on January 22. But, no one knew that if it rains, the roof will leak. It is surprising that the roof of a world-famous temple is leaking. Why did this happen?” “Such an incident is happening in the presence of such big engineers, which is very wrong,” he said.

Meanwhile, rains on Saturday night caused severe waterlogging on the Rampath road and its adjoining laneshere. While sewer water entered houses in the area, the Rampath road and other newly constructed roads in Ayodhya caved in at some places.

There was waterlogging from Jalwanpura to Hanumangarhi Bhaktipath and from Tedhi Bazaar to the inner areas, locals said.

Reacting to the sewer water entering houses in the lanes of Rampath during the rain, Ayodhya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi said, “I have started damage control since morning. I have deployed several teams of the municipality to remove water from the houses.” However, attempts to seek the response of top officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) did not fructify.

Meanwhile, the Congress accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in corruption in the temple construction and building of civic facilities in the temple town.

“Be it the coffin of the martyrs or the temple of God, all these have become opportunities for corruption for the BJP. Even the symbols of faith and purity in the country are just opportunities of loot for them,” Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai alleged in a statement on Monday.

“It has become clear from the statement of chief priest Satyendra Das that water is leaking in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple built at a cost of crores due to the first rain and there is no proper drainage system,” he said.

Rai said, “Not only this, the mask of the BJP, which was beating the drum of development of Ayodhya, has come off with the road collapsing at many places on the Rampath built at a cost of Rs 624 crore.” He alleged that the BJP has made Ayodhya a “hub of corruption by getting second-rate construction done in a hurry only to gain electoral benefits”.

“The BJP has only done injustice to the people there by not giving them proper compensation,” he alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Amravati (Maharashtra):

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday lashed out at the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for not attending the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (consecration ceremony) of Ram Lalla at the Ayodhya temple and alleged that he turned down the invitation to the event due to ‘fear’ of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

Amit Shah, while addressing a public rally in Maharashtra’s Amaravati slammed the opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for not attending the event and accused them of “humiliating” Lord Ram.

“Uddhav Thackeray, who claims to be the president of Shiv Sena, this fake president of Shiv Sena didn’t attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ due to fear of Sonia Gandhi even after being invited. ‘Rahul Baba’ too received the invitation but didn’t attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’. These people, by not attending the ‘Pran Pratishtha’, have humiliated Lord Ram,” Mr Shah said.

Doubling down his charges against Uddhav Thackeray, the minister said that the former Maharashtra Chief Minister left every principle of Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena’s patriarch.

“Umesh Kolhe was murdered and this so-called ‘Hindu hit rakshak‘ Uddhav Thackeray did nothing. ‘Uddhav babu’, you have left every enculturation of Balasaheb. I want to tell you that Eknath Shinde has moved forward with all the enculturation of Balasaheb. In Maharashtra, it’s our govt now, it’s the govt of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, and now, no Umesh will be murdered, no one has the courage,” Mr Shah said.

Kolhe was murdered by three assailants on June 21, 2023, when he was returning from work, days after he had put up a post on WhatsApp in support of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who had made controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed.

“Your every vote is going to free this country from terrorism and naxalism… In the fight between those who want Ram Rajya and those who want the rule of a family, your every vote is going for Ram Rajya,” Mr Shah told people in the audience.

Amit Shah was addressing a rally in Amravati to drum up the support of people for BJP’s candidate Navneet Rana.

Ms Rana had won the Amravati seat as an Independent candidate supported by the undivided NCP in 2019 and has been fielded by the BJP this time.

Navneet Rana was the only Independent from Maharashtra to enter the Lok Sabha in 2019. She then had the backing of Sharad Pawar-led NCP. However, the Amravati MP, who had started her career under Mr Pawar, later started supporting the BJP.

The voting date for the Amravati Lok Sabha constituency is set for April 26, the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls. It comprises six assembly seats of Badnera, Amravati, Teosa, Daryapur (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Melghat (reserved for Scheduled Tribes), and Achalpur.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ride-hailing platform Ola Mobility on Monday said they have started operations at the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya, and said it has installed a dedicated cab pick-up zone at the arrival and exit points.

The company has also deployed a dedicated team of representatives who would be available 24×7 to manage its operations at the airport and address customer queries in real-time.

“Ayodhya is emerging as one of the fastest growing cultural and tourist hubs in India. Ola is excited to expand its services and provide dedicated mobility solutions in the city,” Ola Mobility CEO Hemant Bakshi said.

“In line with our mission to serve 1 billion Indians, we plan to unlock growth opportunities in locations like Ayodhya, which hold spiritual and cultural significance, and attract millions of tourists annually.

“Ola is dedicated to elevating the travel experience in Ayodhya for passengers while creating job opportunities for driver-partners,” he said

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj who created the Ram Lalla idol for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, has created a miniature version of the deity, capturing the hearts of devotees. The famed artist took to X to share the images which have gone viral. 

”After the selection of the main Murti of Ram lalla, I carved another small Ram Lalla murti (Stone) in my free time at Ayodhya,” Mr Yogiraj shared on X while sharing the pics. 

See the post here:

After the selection of the main Murti of Ram lalla, I carved another small Ram lalla murti (Stone) in my free time at Ayodhya. pic.twitter.com/KBO0rgXVPq

— Arun Yogiraj (@yogiraj_arun) March 23, 2024

Earlier, the sculptor also shared a picture of special tools he used to carve the eyes of the statue. He wrote, “Thought of sharing this silver hammer with the golden chisel using which I carved the divine eyes (Netronmilana) of Ram Lalla, Ayodhya.”

The 51-inch-tall idol which shows Ram Lalla as a five-year-old standing on a lotus was created by Mr Yogiraj out of Krishna Shila (black schist). The rock was brought from Karnataka after it was found and excavated during a levelling exercise on an agricultural plot.

After the idol was placed in the sanctum sanctorum or ‘garbha griha’ of the newly-built Ram Janmabhoomi temple, the Karnataka-based sculptor said he considers himself the “luckiest person” on earth.

“I feel I am the luckiest person on the earth now. The blessing of my ancestors, family members and Lord Ram has always been with me. Sometimes I feel like I am in a dream world,” Mr Yogiraj told news agency ANI.

Who is Arun Yogiraj?

Arun Yogiraj, one of the most sought-after sculptors in the country, comes from a family with a rich legacy of the craft. His father and grandfather were renowned sculptors. After completing his MBA, Mr Yogiraj worked in a private company for a while but wanted to follow his ancestors’ legacy. Since 2008, he has been creating statues, gaining nationwide recognition.

The 30-foot statue of Subhash Chandra Bose, a centre of attraction in the grand canopy behind the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate, was also crafted by Mr Yogiraj.

Among his other works, a 12-foot-tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath and a 21-foot-tall Hanuman statue at Chunchanakatte in Mysore district have been widely covered in the media. 

United Nations:

India shred Pakistan to bits and described it as a “broken record” that remains stagnant while the world progresses after Islamabad’s envoy made references to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and Citizenship Amendment Act during remarks to the UN General Assembly.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said this while responding to comments made by Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram during the plenary meeting on Friday where the resolution ‘Measures to combat Islamophobia’, introduced by Pakistan, was adopted by the 193-member UN General Assembly.

“One final point concerns a delegation (and its remarks) that, much like a broken record, remains sadly stagnant while the world progresses,” she said.

Munir Akram made references to the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya as well as to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Ms Kamboj said it is “unfortunate indeed to witness this delegation’s limited and misguided perspective on matters relating to my country, the more so, when the General Assembly considers a matter that demands wisdom, depth, and a global outlook from the entire membership – perhaps not the forte of this delegation.” Ms Kamboj delivered a statement in explanation of India’s position during the adoption of the resolution on ‘Measures to combat Islamophobia’ at the UN General Assembly.

The General Assembly adopted the resolution, with 115 nations voting in favour, none against and 44 abstentions, including India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and the UK.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A museum to showcase rich architectural traditions of Indian temples will be built in Ayodhya and 25 acres of land has been identified for the project following a suggestion from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the city should take up projects to ensure an extended stay of pilgrims visiting the Ram temple.

PM Modi made the suggestion to senior functionaries of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust who met him on October 25 to invite him for the consecration ceremony at the under-construction Ram temple on January 22. The prime minister agreed to it and said he felt blessed that he would witness the historic occasion.

Sources said a host of other projects are also being undertaken in Ayodhya on these lines so that pilgrims arriving in the town to pay obeisance at the Ram temple find enough reasons to stay for a long period.

During his interaction with the trust’s members, sources said, the prime minister told that people’s faith in God may bring them to holy places but it does not necessarily guarantee their extended stay. This can only be ensured through other efforts, he said, making his suggestions, they added.

PM Modi’s philosophy is the driving force behind multiple projects being taken up in Ayodhya and the idea behind them is to ensure that people visiting the city do not only see the temple but stay there for a few days to see other attractions as well, sources said.

A major project being taken up on these lines is the museum to showcase architectures of Indian temples. It will display various facets of the rich architectural traditions of temples from across the country.

Other projects include the ‘Ram Charit Manas Experience Centre’ which will depict the life of Lord Ram in an engaging manner while a world-class wax museum will depict various subjects related to Ram’s era, they said.

A mega multimedia foundation park is also being constructed in the shape of a lotus flower besides projects such as Ayodhya Haat and Ayodhya Aerocity.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate a Ram Mandir-themed Durga Puja Pandal at Santosh Mitra Square in north Kolkata on October 16.

This unique pandal, organized by the Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee, is modelled after the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Kolkata and inaugurate this Durga Puja pandal.

According to BJP leader Sajal Ghosh, the inauguration ceremony is set to take place at 4 PM in the Santosh Mitra Square Puja. This particular Durga Puja is also known as Sajay Ghosh’s Puja. The theme for this year’s celebration is the Ram Temple, inspired by the ongoing construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The pandal at Santosh Mitra Square has been beautifully decorated.

It’s worth mentioning that Amit Shah previously inaugurated Puja pandals during the 2021 Assembly elections in Kolkata. The BJP itself organized Durga Puja celebrations in Bengal during that time, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually present for the inauguration.