Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been invited to the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir, that will be held in Ayodhya on January 22. The cricketer and his family members expressed their happiness after receiving the invitation. On Monday, senior RSS functionary Dhananjay Singh presented the invitation to Dhoni at his Ranchi residence. Karmaveer Singh, the BJP organizing secretary, was also present.
Singh said, "We handed over the invitation card to him on behalf of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22."
Apart from Dhoni, notable cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have also received invitations for the Pran Pratishtha Ceremony in Ayodhya. More than 16 prominent personalities will be present, including senior BJP leader and Padma Bhusan Karia Munda, Padma Shri Mukund Nayak, Padma Shri archer Deepika Kumari, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto as well as 69 people from the sage fraternity from Jharkhand more as stated by Karmaveer Singh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the installation of the Ram Lalla idol at the temple. Vinod Bansal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad national spokesperson said that around 7,000 people along with almost 100 international representatives will also be in attendance.
Few other major league celebrities who have gotten the auspicious invitation include Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Rajinikanth, Mohanlal, Manmohan Singh, Dhanush, Madhuri Dixit, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Prabhas and Yash, among others.
The rituals for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla will commence on January 16, seven days before the focal ceremony. Champat Rai, General secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said that the Ram temple will be wide open to the public for darshan from January 23. The temple will be closed on January 20 and 21 but will be open to the public shortly after that. The Pran Prathishtha will be concluded by 1 pm. PM Modi and a few others will share a few words after the ceremony. Following tradition, presents in 1000 baskets have made their way from Janakpur and areas of Mithila.