The idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the newly constructed temple in Ayodhya on Makar Sankranti in January 2024, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has said.

The event will be held amidst a long celebration that will begin with Deepotsav on the eve of Diwali this year, said Champat Rai, general secretary of the Trust on Tuesday.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had set a deadline of December 31 for opening the Ram temple for devotees. But, according to the Trust, in December, there are no auspicious days for installation of the idol.

As per the Hindu calendar, rituals can only take place from Makar Sankranti when the Sun moves from the southern hemisphere to the Northern hemisphere, the Trust said.

"Makar Sankranti is the most auspicious day for installation of the Ram Lalla idol," said Champat Rai.

The Trust has always maintained that the construction work of Ram temple will be over by December 2023 and grand celebrations will start which will continue till Makar Sankranti in January 2024.

Earlier, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had sent an invitation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the grand opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Modi had presided over the "bhoomi pujan" of Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020.

At present, Ram Lalla is being worshipped in a prefabricated temple at Ram Janmabhoomi which was installed there before construction of the Ram temple began.

"A letter signed by Trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das has been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inviting him for the 'pran pratishtha' (idol consecration) of Ram Lalla at the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ram temple," said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the designated successor of Mahant Nritya Gopal.

Nripendra Misra, chairman of Ram Mandir Construction Committee, will most likely hand over the letter to the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi. (IANS/NS)