New Delhi, Apr 17: Ram Navami was celebrated on Wednesday across the country with joyous processions and special prayers, as Ayodhya's Ram temple witnessed grand festivities to mark the first Ram Navami after its consecration, a day described as a “generational milestone” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi greeted people on the festival, which commemorates the birth of Lord Ram, saying the occasion weaves together centuries of devotion with a new era of hope and progress.
Shobha yatras, pujas and special events were organised across the length and breadth of the country, but nowhere the celebrations were as grand as in Ayodhya, considered the birth place of Lord Ram, where devotees began queuing up outside the newly consecrated temple before the dawn and the holy city reverberated with the chants of Jai Shree Ram.
A meticulously designed system of four mirrors and two lenses directed a ray of sunlight on the forehead of Ram Lalla in the sanctum sanctorum, performing the ‘Surya Tilak' of the idol at 12.00 pm.
“After my Nalbari rally, I watched the Surya Tilak on Ram Lalla. Like crores of Indians, this is a very emotional moment for me. The grand Ram Navami in Ayodhya is historic. May this Surya Tilak bring energy to our lives and may it inspire our nation to scale new heights of glory,” Modi said in a post on X following his Lok Sabha poll rally in Assam's Nalbari.
”This much-awaited moment at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi is a moment of blissfor everyone. This ‘Surya tilak' will illuminate every resolution of developed India with its divine energy in the same way,” he said.
“The first Ram Navami after the Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya is a generational milestone, weaving together centuries of devotion with a new era of hope and progress. This is a day crores of Indians waited for,” Modi said in a series of posts on X.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also shared a video of the ‘Surya Tilak' on his official handle on X.
Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, said Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, played a crucial role in the Surya Tilak project.
“The team led by @IIABengaluru carried out calculations of the Sun's position, designed and optimized the optical system, and performed the integration and alignment at the site,” he said.
With the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections less than 48 hours away, security was tightened in parts on the country already, and the administration made elaborate arrangements for Ram Navami as some incidents of violence were reported on Ram Navami during previous years.
The small Hindu community of the Srinagar city celebrated the festival by taking out a Shobha Yatra in the summer capital amidst tight security. The yatra started from the Zaindar Mohalla in the old city and culminated at Tankipora after passing through Habbakadal, Barbarshah, Lal Chowk, Hari Singh High Street and Jehangir Chowk.
“We have been taking out this yatra and ‘jhanki' every year for the past 17 years. Earlier, it was stopped due to turmoil in the Valley,” said one of the participants.
In Jharkhand, the festival was celebrated across the state with long queues seen outside temples as the administration deployed police personnel and used drones to monitor religious gatherings. Officials said Ranchi, Hazaribag, Jamshedpur, Giridih, Lohardaga and Palamu districts were in focus.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl was killed and 24 people were injured after a pick-van carrying a generator set and soundbox overturned on a Ram Navami procession in the state's Lohardaga district.
A large number of devotees participated procession in Bihar's capital Patna.
