The bricks were sent by devotees of Lord Ram from around the world in 1989. There are 2,75,000 such bricks, out of which 100 bricks with 'Jai Shri Ram' engraving have been taken.
With the Bhoomi Pujan scheduled to be on August 5 and the who's who of Indian politics likely to make a visit in Ayodhya, the district administration has deployed hundreds of people for a beautification drive in the temple town. Roads, walls, streets are being painted, cleaned to give them a new refreshing look. Thousands of municipal workers have been deployed to do a cleanup drive in the town which will see visits of dignitaries on August 5. Take a look.
Dismissing the role of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy as negotiator for the Ram temple issue, the main parties to the case on Thursday demanded setting up a panel of Supreme Court judges to initiate the talks in the vexed matter.
Within minutes of Gohil's announcement of the Congress' action, Der called a press conference at his residence, saying he was not aware when he was suspended by the party and announced he will join the BJP at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, was passed unanimously as besides the BJP MLAs, members of the Opposition Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party extended their support to it.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
Speaking to reporters, VHP national general secretary Milind Parande also said the construction of the temple will take a little time but the 'garbhagriha' (sanctum sanctorum) will be in place by December 2023 with starting of puja ritual and darshan for devotees.
The complainant, Ajay Agrawal, a Supreme Court advocate and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, alleged that Suranya Aiyar made objectionable remarks on different social media platforms on January 20, 2024, and other dates.
Earlier, there was a debate if Modi is entitled to adopt the role which usually goes to a "householder".
"For us Ram temple is a matter of faith and not politics," Thackeray said.
The ancient Shiv Mandir is located at Bisrakh village, believed to be the birthplace of Ravana, the antagonist to the hero of Lord Ram in the epic Ramayana.
Modi believes that the Congress leadership does not have the political sagacity to undertake a course correction because of its preoccupation about not losing its current gains in the voter base, observes Shekhar Iyer.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has said the Ram Janmbhoomi movement, whose primary objective was construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, also became a symbol of 'reclaiming the true meaning of secularism from the onslaught of pseudo-secularism'.
Destiny had decided that a grand temple of Lord Ram will be built in Ayodhya and it chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this, BJP stalwart L K Advani has said in an article to be published in a special edition of the Rashtra Dharma magazine next week.
In a post on X, Modi shared a video montage of the ceremony in which a new idol of the Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple.
Delhi chief minister Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday offered prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya, and said his government will include the temple town of Ayodhya in the Delhi government's free pilgrimage scheme.
'I just invited PM Modi for Kalki Dham for shilanyas, so what crime did I commit as a Congressman?'
'They are from the north, east, west, south and northeast part of India. They will be the 'mukhya yajmaan' (main hosts)'
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
Participating in the eighth edition of Deepotsav in Ayodhya - the first since the consecration of Ram temple on January 22, Adityanath said, "This is a historic first as after 500 years, Lord Ram is now in his abode in Ayodhya for Diwali."
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet will hold its meeting on Thursday in Ayodhya as the city gears up for the opening of the Ram temple in January.
Members from the Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal too were part of the group, their participation seen as another indication that the party is all set to switch sides from the SP to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The event will be marked by prayers to Lord Shiva at the Kuber Tila shrine on the Ram Janmabhoomi site, allocated for the temple in a historic Supreme Court verdict last November.
Aiyar in a video posted on Facebook, however, stated that she did not live in the colony represented by the RWA and that she did not receive any "notice" (letter) from it.
The construction work of Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya is underway in full swing and the second phase of its foundation work would be ready by January end, officials have said.
The following is the chronology of events related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in which, after the Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday conducted the 'Bhoomi Pujan' or ground breaking ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the temple's construction.
Prasad said the Bharatiya Janata Party never linked the Ram Mandir issue with polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple amid devotional chants and in the presence of spiritual leaders of the Swaminarayan sect.
'You don't realise your life has changed in just three days.' 'It's when you come back to the city that it starts hitting you but you now have the power to manage the challenges Life throws at you.'
The Ayodhya district administration has told news channels that litigants in the Ayodhya land dispute case should not be part of any discussions that they broadcast from the temple town during the 'Bhumi Pujan' for the Ram temple on August 5. In an advisory, it also said that if channels are broadcasting a debate or programme from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh during the ground-breaking ceremony, there should be no comments against any person or religion.
Will BJP campaigners start using the term 'Ram Rajya' to refer to the nation under Modi's rule, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'When the Babri Masjid was demolished, we didn't take permission from anyone.'
Ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister announced that roads would be constructed in the state after the name of 'kar sevaks' who died in 1990 during Ram Mandir movement in Ayodhya.
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other".
Thackeray recalled former prime minister Vajpayee as saying, Ab Hindu maat nahi khayega (Hindus will not be defeated now), and added, "Hindus will not sit silent."
Beginning his speech with 'Jai Siya Ram', the prime minister told the gathering that a grand temple will now be built for 'Ram Lalla', the infant Ram, who had been living in a temporary tent for years.
It will be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
The PM urged all citizens to light diyas in their houses on January 22 so that the whole country basks in glory.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.