The Bhoomi Pujan for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will begin at 12.30 pm on Wednesday (5 August) with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi performing the Shila Pujan, Bhoomi Pujan and Karma Shila Pujan.

According to an official statement, the main puja will be held between 12.44 p.m. and 12.45 p.m. during the 32-second Abhijit Muhurat. It is the same muhurat or auspicious moment when Lord Ram was believed to have been born.

The Prime Minister will lay a 40-kg silver brick to symbolise the start of construction of the temple that is at the core of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s ideology and poll promises. A campaign for the temple marked the rise of the party to the national spotlight in the 1990s.

Modi is likely to spend around three hours in Ayodhya on Wednesday.

He will arrive from Delhi at Lucknow airport at 10:35am and immediately leave for Ayodhya by a helicopter. The Prime Minister will arrive in Ayodhya at 11:30am at the Saket Mahavidyalaya where his chopper will land.

At 11:40am, Modi will go to Hanuman Garhi temple where he will offer prayers for 10 minutes and then proceed to the Ram Janmabhoomi complex where he will offer prayers to Ram Lalla Virajman.

The Prime Minister will plant a Parijat sapling at 12:10pm in the temple complex and then proceed for the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony.

After the ceremony which will end at 12:45pm, the Prime Minister will address the saints for about an hour after which he will fly back to Lucknow around 2 pm and then return to Delhi.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

PM Modi in Ayodhya

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