'Surya Tilak' Illuminates Ram Lalla

Ayodhya: ‘Surya Tilak’ or a ray of Sun illuminated the forehead of Lord Ram Lalla idol at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on the occasion of Ram Navami on Wednesday.

'Surya tilak' of the deity was made possible by an elaborate mechanism involving mirrors and lenses. The system was tested by the scientists on Tuesday.

This was the first Ram Navami since the consecration of the Ram idol at the Ayodhya temple, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.

The local administration and the temple authorities had made special arrangements to handle the crowds on Ram Navami. Devotees began queuing up at the Ram temple here before the break of dawn, district officials said. As ‘Surya Tilak’ of the deity took place, devotees outside in the sanctum sanctorum hailed the event by chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. Inside, priests conducted an “aarti”.

According to a senior scientist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, the planned tilak size was 58 mm. The exact period of tilak on the forehead centre was about three to three-and-a-half minutes, with two minutes of full illumination, he said.

Even as Ram Lalla was to be anointed with the Surya Tilak, PM Modi made a reference to the historic occasion at his election rally at Assam’s Nalbari. Amid chants of ‘Jai Siyavar Ram’, the PM said “Today is the historic occasion of Ram Navami. After waiting for 500 years, Lord Ram has been seated in his grand temple. Now after a few minutes, by applying Surya Tilak to Lord Ram, his birth anniversary will be celebrated in the holy city of Ayodhya, in the Ram Temple.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also shared a video of the ‘Surya Tilak’ on his official handle on X. “The grand ‘Surya Tilak’ adorned on the forehead of Suryakul Bhushan Shri Ram Lalla is today illuminating the entire nation with its eternal glory. Jai Jai Shri Ram!,” he wrote.

The Ram Janmabhoomi for the second time is witnessing a grand celebration, after the magnificent ceremony of pran pratishtha. Ram Navami is being celebrated with great pomp at Ram Mandir with offerings of 56 types of bhog, prasad and panjiri.

Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, said all the arrangements for the celebration are being managed by the Trust and the occasion of Ram Navami is being celebrated with great enthusiasm.

The chief priest further informed that everything has been decorated and the idol of Lord Ram has been specially dressed for the day, “He is dressed in yellow clothes, and after this he is bathed with Panchamrit. Four-five types of panjiris are made and along with that, 56 types of offerings are made to the Lord.”

Temple spokesperson Prakash Gupta said, “The Surya Tilak was done for around four or five minutes when the sun rays were directly focused on the forehead of the Ram Lalla idol.” “The temple administration prevented the devotees from entering the sanctum sanctorum at the time of the Surya Tilak to avoid overcrowding,” Gupta said.

The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust constituted to look after the management of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya, on its official X handle posted pictures of priests performing Divya Abhisheka of Ramlalla Sarkar at the temple. The trust also posted pictures of the Divya Shringar of Lord Rama on the occasion.