KOLKATA\/RANCHI\/GUWAHATI\/ITANAGAR\/AGARTALA\/PATNA, 22 Jan: The entire eastern and northeastern region of the country soaked in festive fervour on Monday on the occasion of the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya (UP) with temples resonating with devotional songs and people exchanging wishes on the occasion.
\nIn West Bengal, Governor CV Ananda Bose flagged off a ‘Ramayana Yatra’ from a Ram temple in Kolkata, after offering a puja, a senior official said.
\nThroughout the day, the state witnessed several pujas at various locations to celebrate the momentous occasion.
\nBose on Sunday had appealed to the people of the state to ensure that the ceremony becomes a joyous and harmonious occasion, characterised by peace and unity.
\nA grand procession, featuring a tableau depicting Lord Ram offering obeisance to Goddess Durga, was taken out in Kolkata. The procession started from Baikuntha Nath temple near Ganesh Talkies and culminated at the over 80-year-old Ram temple on Chittaranjan Avenue.
\nThe procession, with placards and flags having images of Lord Ram, was led by leader of opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP leaders, including Rahul Sinha.
\nChou performers and a large number of women draped in yellow and red saris added colour to the procession.
\nIn Jharkhand, special prayers were held in more than 51,000 temples across the state.
\nGovernor CP Radhakrishnan extended his wishes to the people on the occasion.
\n“Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the countrymen on the occasion of the consecration of Lord Shri Ram’s temple in Ayodhya. I am blessed to witness this historic day,” Radhakrishnan wrote on X.
\nViswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Birendra Sahu said, “Religious programmes are taking place at over 51,000 temples in Jharkhand on Monday” during the pran pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.
\nThe Jharkhand government had declared a holiday for government schools, while its offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
\nA massive rangoli of Lord Ram was inaugurated by union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on the premises of Sri Laxmi Narayan temple at Cable Town in Jamshedpur, officials said.
\nThe rangoli, measuring 18,500 sq ft, was formally inaugurated on Monday, coinciding with the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Independent MLA and former Jharkhand minister Saryu Roy said.
\nIn Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the consecration ceremony a “turning point” and “reawakening of national consciousness.”
\nSarma viewed the live streaming of the consecration ceremony at Harijan Colony in the state capital, while special prayers were organised in various places and people burst crackers.
\nThe state government had earlier declared a half-day holiday with government offices and institutions to open from 2 pm.
\nArunachal Pradesh also soaked in religious fervour on the occasion with special prayers and rallies organised in various parts of the state.
\nIn capital Itanagar, markets were closed to witness the historic occasion. A large number of private schools in the state also declared a holiday for the occasion, an official added.
\nLED screens were put up at various places across the state to livestream the ceremony from Ayodhya, which was attended by senior BJP leaders, ministers and MLAs.
\nSadbhaav Arunachal, a social organisation, distributed five kgs of sweets at each of the 18 temples in the state capital, its chairman Tadar Niglar informed.
\nIn Tripura, special prayers at various temples were held and processions were taken out as part of the celebrations.
\nTripura Chief Minister Manik Saha performed a special yagna at Durgabari in Agartala.
\n“Today, a 500-year-old wait has ended with the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. With this, the country has begun its journey towards Ram Rajya,” the chief minister told reporters.
\nIn Bihar, special prayers at various temples were held and processions were taken out in capital Patna as part of the celebrations.
\nTemples were decorated with flowers, while thousands of diyas were lit up in the evening to mark the occasion.
\nWomen devotees of Lord Ram with religious flags started kirtan (devotional songs) at the Hanuman temple in Priyadarshi Nagar on Bailey Road in Patna, while Sri Krishna Pranami temple took out a religious procession.
\nAs many as 108 women devotees hit the streets, carrying the Ramayana on their heads, temple convener Sukhdev Pranami said.
\nA replica of the Ayodhya temple has been displayed near Dak Bunglow Chowk in Patna where the Sri Ramnavami Shobhayatra Abhinandan Samiti organised a daylong programme on Sunday.
\nSikkim joined the nation in celebrating the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol with Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang leading a procession in Gangtok.
\nThousands of devotees gathered at MG Marg in front of the tourism information centre in the state capital and watched the live telecast of the consecration ceremony.
\nTamang joined the celebrations and led the procession from Bhanu Uddhyan.
\nThe procession passed through MLA Hostel, Red Panda Chowk and Star Cinema Hall, before culminating in front of the Ayodhya Dham Ram temple replica at MG Marg, where puja was performed and Vedic mantras were chanted by priests. (PTI Team)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KOLKATA\/RANCHI\/GUWAHATI\/ITANAGAR\/AGARTALA\/PATNA, 22 Jan: The entire eastern and northeastern region of the country soaked in festive fervour on Monday on the occasion of the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya (UP) with temples resonating with devotional songs and people exchanging wishes on the occasion. In West Bengal, Governor CV Ananda Bose flagged off a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-233006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}