Gujarat Government Declares Half-Day Holiday for Offices on Jan 22 for Ram Temple Consecration

On January 22, in honor of the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, government offices in Gujarat are slated to close for half a day, according to officials. The state government issued a notification late Thursday night, declaring the closure of offices until 2:30 pm on January 22. This move aligns with the nationwide celebration of the Ram temple consecration ceremony. The notification emphasizes that all state government offices and institutions will observe the half-day closure to enable the people of the state to actively participate in the festivities. Additionally, the central government has also announced a half-day holiday for all its employees on January 22.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the January 22 'pran pratishtha' or consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, which is expected to be opened to the public the next day. He has also asked every Indian to light a diya in their house on January 22. Over 11,000 guests have been invited by the temple trust and they include cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

The ceremony will also be attended by all the trustees of the temple trust, seers of about 150 sects and more than 500 people associated with the construction of the temple, who have been named the "Engineer Group".