The consecration ceremony for the idol of Ram Lalla in the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is scheduled for Monday (22nd January). However, before the event, there was a controversy after pictures of the idol surfaced. The idol was unveiled three days before the official ceremony. The images depict the idol, crafted from black stone, with a yellow cloth covering its eyes. In some of the leaked pictures, the yellow cloth appears to have been removed from the statue’s eyes. Responding to this development, Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, expressed his views on the matter on Saturday (20th January).
Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple, said that before the consecration, the cloth could not be removed from the eyes of the deity’s new idol. He added that if the cloth is not visible in the eyes of the idol, then it is wrong, and it should be probed.
Acharya Satyendra Das said, “Where there is a new idol, the rituals of consecration of life are being performed. At present, the idol has been covered with clothes. It is not right to show an open-eyed idol. Eyes will not be opened before consecration. If such a picture is coming out, then it should be investigated who has done it.”
According to reports, officials are in a state of concern following the leakage of a picture of Ram Lalla from the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi before the scheduled consecration ceremony on 22nd January in Ayodhya. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is contemplating stringent measures against those responsible for the unauthorized release of the image. The trust has raised suspicions against certain officials present at the site, speculating that those engaged in the construction work at the temple might be involved. Actions are being planned against the officers believed to have made the photo of Ram Lalla viral on social media.
Meanwhile, Vijetha Yogiraj, sculptor Arun Yogiraj’s wife, said that the final picture of Ram Lalla’s idol has not been revealed yet. She said that the pictures in which the eyes of the idol are visible do not include the final version of the idol and some work regarding eyes remained when those pictures are clicked.
She said, “The final picture after the completion of eyes is still not revealed. So I’m happy that we still can wait for the final picture. But anyhow, this, this is something, everybody is looking at is an idol, this murti of Ram Lalla and you can see Ram Lalla in front of our eyes and we are, this stone Krishna Shila has qualities where when you do Abhishek, that abhisheka, that is when you put milk, you can consume it also, it is, it does, it does not affect your health and milk comes out like milk. It does not turn into curd or anything, which is why we have, which is why this stone has been selected because it does not react to any acid fire, or water, weatherproof, or anything. It will stay for several years to come, more than thousands of years.”
Photographs of the idol of Lord Ram installed in the Garbhagriha of Ram Mandir surfaced on 19th January which exhibit its delicate and complex structures. The Ram Lalla idol was installed on the marble mandapa in the sanctum sanctorum on 18th January, ahead of the consecration ceremony on 22nd January. The first photo of the deity which was covered with a white veil was revealed during the placement ceremony on 18th January.