Maharashtra: Shiv Sena to perform 'Maha Aarti' in Nasik on Ram Temple consecration day
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that the party will perform a 'Maha Aarti' at the bank of the Godavari River in Maharashtra's Nasik on the Ram Temple consecration day on January 22.
Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) in Ayodhya will begin on January 16, a week before the main ceremony.
A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. From January 14 to January 22, Ayodhya will mark the Amrit Mahotsav.
Udhhav Thackeray said, "The birth anniversary of Bala Saheb falls on Janurary 23 but since the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Temple is going to be held on January 22, the Shiv Sena will perform a 'Maha Aarti' on that day at the bank of the Godavari River in Nasik."
"We do not want to indulge in matter of who has got the invitation and who has not. When the conseration ceremony will be held in Ayodhya, at the same time, we will participate by offering prayers at the Kala Ram Temple in Nasik. On the same day, we will hold party's conference in Nasik itself," Thackeray added.
Nasik's Kalaram Temple is dedicated to Lord Ram. It is believed that Lord Ram stayed here in Panchvati with wife Sita and brother Laksham during their exile ('Vanvaas').
Udhav Thackeray has not been invited to the grand consecration ceremony. Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) engaged in a bitter falling out over the issue, with Thackeray saying that he had not been invited for the ceremony.
"First, I have not received any invitation. Second, I dont need an invitation to go there. Ram Lalla is not a party's property, he belongs to everyone. I just want that this event not to be politicised...This decision was given by the Supreme Court, not the government," Thackeray said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Narayan Rane lashed out at the Shiv Sena leader stating that he should not attend the consecration ceremony.
"Uddhav is crazy, he has no right to speak about the Ram Temple. What was he doing all these years? and now he's having a stomach-ache. Such people should not go to see the Ram Temple. It is a sacred place, and such crazy people should not go there," Rane said.
