In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday clarified that the remarks made by Prime Minister Oli 'are not linked to any political subject and have no intention at all to hurt the feelings and sentiments of anyone'.
He also appealed to everyone to light a lamp this Diwali in the name of Lord Ram.
North India is convulsed with spiritual excitement over the pran pratishta at the Ram temple. But what do folks in Tamil Nadu think about the events in Ayodhya?
As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
The new idol of Lord Ram was placed Thursday afternoon in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple, ahead of the consecration ceremony set to take place on January 22.
"There was no water leakage but the rainwater came down from the pipes fixed to install electric wires," Mishra said.
'I would like to leave behind my small contribution for the historic day when the Ram temple will be consecrated.'
As dusk fell, volunteers lit up nearly six lakh diyas lined up on the Saryu riverbank. 'Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records witnessed this grand festival. With 5,84,372 earthen lamps, the event made the world record,' a state government statement said.
The BJP has been talking about Ram Rajya for years now. I have asked many a right winger what that means, but they cannot say beyond good government, notes A Ganesh Nadar.
Narendra Modi has proved through execution of this event in Ayodhya that amongst all his contemporaries in politics he knows ordinary Indians like none other, notes Sheela Bhatt.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
As the evening progressed, Ram bhajans echoed at virtually each and every street of the temple town and earthen lamps lined the streets from Naya Ghat and Ram ki Paidhi to Hanumangarhi, giving children a perfect selfie background.
Terming this occasion as special, CM Yogi said that liquor shops should be kept closed in the state on January 22.
Hidden close circuit cameras have also been installed at all major temples in Ayodhya.
The pilgrimage, which started at around 8 pm on Sunday will conclude on Tuesday.
Invitations are being extended to several people who have been part of this temple movement including BJP leaders L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, Mishra said. Kameshwar Chaupal, another trustee of the temple, said top leaders of the RSS including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi are also being invited for the event along with VHP's working president Alok Kumar.
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 Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
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'.
On the second day of the 10-day Ganesh festival, several devotees in Mumbai bid farewell to the idols of their favourite deity after worshipping them for one and a half days.
'Gods of different religions haven't warred, so we shouldn't either.'
highlights of the Supreme Court judgment in which it unanimously granted the entire 2.77 acre of the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri masjid land in Ayodhya to deity Ram Lalla.
South Africa's premier left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is confident that slow bowlers will play a vital role on flat decks expected to be on offer during the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Americas in June.
The construction of the three-storeyed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be completed by December this year, temple construction committee chairperson Nripendra Misra said on Thursday. The sprawling temple complex will also have other structures.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday confirmed reports of an invitation to Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, adding that she was 'very positive on this matter'.
Both Khera and Suman joined the saffron at its headquarters in Delhi in the presence of senior leaders, including BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde and national media department in-charge Anil Baluni.
The Rajya Sabha MP said for electoral success 'it is essential that the ideology of Hindutva is never lost sight of'.
Is 2024 a done deal for the BJP? It was a done deal five years ago itself, but it did not have a guarantee.
Now, with the temple consecration, it seems to have acquired a Ramji Ki Guarantee, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple showed India's secular character to the world, Shah said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give an early hearing to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking facilities for the devotees visiting the disputed site in Ayodhya.
In a major victory for the Hindu side, a Varanasi court on Wednesday allowed Hindu devotees to offer prayers inside the 'Vyas ka Tekhana' area inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The height of Ayodhya's grand Ram temple would be 161-feet
The trust members had earlier said they would be sending an official invite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event.
Thackeray announces Rs 1 crore for construction of Ram Temple from his trust.
Ram Temple Trust general secretary Champat Rai said that the decision was taken in the recently held meeting of the members.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com decodes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech after the Pran Prathistha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodha.
The BJP enters challenging times where it has been given a task to hold onto the values of Ram in running the country as defined by Narendra Modi in Ayodhya, notes Sheela Bhatt.
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.
The Samajwadi Party government went overboard in deploying nearly 10,000 policemen to patrol the streets of Ayodhya to prevent the VHP from carrying out its 84-kosi parikrama, reports Sharat Pradhan
The bench on October 16 had reserved the judgment after marathon hearing of 40 days.
