 "Ram temple, ram mandir")
In view of the Ram Mandir' Pran Pratishtha' ceremony, the government announced a half-day holiday for all the employees of the central government office on Thursday, January 22.
Issuing a notification, the Centre said, "To enable employees to participate in the celebration, it has been decided that all central, central insulations and central industrial establishments throughout India will be closed for half day till 2:30 pm on January 22."
Grand event planned in Ayodhya
The consecration ceremony will be held in Uttar Pradesh's temple town of Ayodhya. The event, expected to be celebrated with much pomp and show, will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Bharatiya Janata Party veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav among others.
Many prominent Bollywood celebrities, including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, among others, have also been invited to the event.
Varanasi priest Lakshmi Kant Dixit will officiate the main rituals during the consecration ceremony, the temple trust said.
The event is expected to witness participation from 8,000 guests from across India.
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PM Modi embarks on special exercise
Notably, PM Modi on January 12, began a special 11-day religious exercise in a run-up to the main ceremony.
According to officials, Modi will be following the arduous guidelines detailed in scriptures related to the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. "I seek blessings from people…I am emotional. First time in life, I am experiencing such feelings," he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
(With PTI inputs)
