Hindu saints and devotees light oil lamps in a formation of the Ayodhya Ram temple inside a temple to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Ahmedabad, India, November 12, 2023.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will extend invitations to over 10 crore families, in connection with the consecration programme of Lord Rama, scheduled to take place in Ayodhya in January, next year.
The invitations “on the call of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra”, VHP said in a statement on Monday, will cover families in the country, and abroad.
On the day concerned, 4,000 saints of “all Hindutva traditions”, important representatives of VHP, besides “senior social, cultural and creative leadership of the country”, will participate at Ayodhya.
VHP’s central working president Alok Kumar said that while Diwali celebrates Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya after 14 years, “on January 22 2024, the world will be celebrating the second Diwali when Ram ji will return to his birthplace after 500 years, at the time of ‘Amrit kaal’ of Bharat’s independence”.
The VHP statement mentioned that thus, it’s “necessary that the entire Hindu society from around the world should directly participate in this 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony”.
The Parishad added that as all Ram devotees cannot be asked to reach Ayodhya on the day concerned, so Hindus, globally, should consider the temple in their vicinity as Ayodhya. They should gather and perform puja in accordance with their local tradition, and chant the “vijay maha mantra”.
VHP has also asked that they should watch the live telecast of the programme at Ayodhya, offer prayers and Aarti, and share prasad.
“The VHP working president said in a press conference held in Delhi that the pious ‘Akshat’ (yellow rice) kalash sanctified in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on 5th November 2023 has been sent to 45 provinces formed as per the vision (of) the organisation's structure. Taking this invitation on the call of Teerth Kshetra Trust, the workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, along with other Hindu organisations, will visit Hindu families in the cities and villages of the country between 1st to 15th January '24,” the statement added, besides mentioning other activities. For Hindus, abroad, a similar programme has been organised.
“Our assessment so far is that this event will definitely take place in more than 5 lakh temples across the world and millions of Hindus will participate in it,” VHP said.