COVID-19 protocol must but ensure grandeur of Ram temple bhoomi poojan: UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that COVID-19 protocols have to be followed while making sure that the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya is grand and one-of-a-kind.

"The main event is on August 5. We have to follow the COVID-19 protocol while also making sure that the grandeur of the programme remains. We have to make this programme reach every part of the country and the world. The Prime Minister will visit Ayodhya. We will make Ayodhya the pride of India and the world," the Chief Minister said.

"Cleanliness should be the first condition. There is an opportunity for Ayodhya to prove through self-discipline its capability and be the way the world expects to see it," Yogi Adityanath said.

He added, "We all will come together for an auspicious event. There will be 'deepotsav' in all houses and temples on the nights of August 4 and 5. Deepawali is associated with Ayodhya and the festival cannot even be imagined without Ayodhya."

Days ahead of the mega celebrations planned in Ayodhya for the 'Bhoomi Poojan' of the Ram temple, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister offered prayers to Lord Ram at the Janmabhoomi site on Saturday.

Later, Yogi Adityanath also held a meeting with the members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and the local administration to take stock of the preparations ahead of the grand ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, according to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of the temple trust.

The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone in which chief ministers of several states, ministers from the Union Cabinet and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, among others are also likely to participate.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, set up in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict, held its second meeting last week.

In March this year, the 'Ram Lalla' idol was shifted to a temporary structure near Manas Bhawan on the Ram Janmabhoomi premises till the completion of the construction of Ram temple.

The Supreme Court had on November 9 last year directed the central government to hand over the site at Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple.

( With inputs from ANI )