Prominent figures invited to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 include cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, and Ratan Tata, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, and actors Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia, who played Ram and Sita in the hit TV series "Ramayana."
Over 7,000 guests, including 3,000 VIPs, have received invites from the Ram Mandir Trust. Families of karsevaks who lost their lives during the temple movement will also be invited. Additional invitees include 4,000 seers, writers, journalists, scientists, RSS president Mohan Bhagwat, yoga master Ramdev, and well-known individuals from all around the nation. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust general secretary Champat Rai said: “We plan to invite one representative each from 50 foreign countries.” “We have also invited saints, priests, shankaracharyas, former civil servants, retired Army officers, lawyers, musicians and Padma awardees,” he said.
“Ram Lalla will be seated in the temple in the form of a five-year-old boy. For this, three idols are being made from two stones brought from Karnataka, and one from Rajasthan,” said Rai, adding, “These idols are 90% ready and the finishing work will take a week more.
The idols are being made by three sculptors - Ganesh Bhatt and Arun Yogiraj from Karnataka and Satyanarayan Pandey from Jaipur. The most beautiful idol will be selected for consecration,” said Rai. VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma said, “We have also invited journalists who supported the Ram temple movement through writings and reports. Without them, the struggle for the Ram Temple could not have been successful.”