The Ramcharitmanas has been placed in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, days ahead of Ram Navami. Scripted in gold, the Ramcharitmanas was given to the Ram Temple trust by an ex-IAS officer, Subramanian Lakshminarayanan and his wife Saraswathy.
The golden Ramayana, estimated to be around Rs 5 crore, weighs 151 kg, with each page consisting of 10,902 verses coated with 24 carat gold. According to reports, Lakshminarayanan, from Madhya Pradesh, had pledged to dedicate his entire life’s savings to Ram Lalla. His wife played an important role in giving shape to the golden Ramayana.
In-charge of Ram temple trust’s camp office, Prakash Gupta said as quoted by TOI, “The retired bureaucrat is an ardent follower of lord Vishnu and he has donated all the savings for this cause.”
The golden Ramcharitmanas contains 480-500 pages and around 140 kg copper has also been used as base metal in preparing it.
A TOI report mentions that the gold-plated pages of the book were brought in bundles in separate parcels, and the binding was done in Ayodhya.
The gold Ramcharitmanas has been crafted by Chennai-based Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers (VBJ), which designed and made Sengol, the historical sceptre installed in the new Parliament building.
The Ramcharitmanas, a Hindu epic, describes Lord Ram’s journey in six chapters – Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda, Sundara Kanda and the Uttara Kanda.
Navratri Celebrations in Ayodhya
Meanwhile, Navratri celebrations began in Ayodhya with the installation of Kalash in the Ram temple. This also marked the beginning of the Ram Navami fair in Ayodhya.
Devotees took holy dip in the Saryu River and offered prayers at Ram Temple.
Ram Lalla will be dressed in colorful silk as well as cotton clothes embroidered with peacock and other Vaishnav symbols for Ram Navami. A silver urn has been installed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ram Temple.
Surya Tilak on Ram Navami
Ram Mandir will also witness a rare celestial event to mark Ram Navami on April 17. Devotees visiting the temple would get a chance witness a rare annual event, in which the sunlight would be allowed to fall in a way that it cascades a ‘divine’ tilak on the forehead of the new Ram Lalla idol.
While calling it ‘Surya Tilak’ and an amalgamation of science, engineering and spirituality, the officials of the temple trust and scientists who have designed the mechanism said that the event would occur through a set of sophisticated mechanism of lenses and mirrors designed to take place only on the occasion of Ram Navami, the day celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ram.
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