By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 20 Jan: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in Ram Rajya Shobha Yatra programme organized by Shri Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Utsav Committee at the Parade Ground, here on Saturday. The Shobha Yatra witnessed the participation of thousands of people, including a large number of BJP leaders, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, traders, and Ram devotees. The Shobha Yatra started from the Parade Ground and, taking a round from Orient Chowk, Rajpur Road, Clock Tower, Paltan Bazar, Dispensary Road, culminated at Rangers College Grounds here on Saturday afternoon.
Addressing the gathering at the launch of the Shobha Yatra, Chief Minister Dhami stated that the dream of all Ram devotees of more than 500 years of waiting to build a grand Ram temple is about to be realized now. After the sacrifice of thousands of saints, sages, Ram devotees, and Sanatan lovers, the countrymen will now witness to this sacred installation.Dhami said that every Indian will witness the consecration of the idol of Lord Ram to be held in Ayodhya on 22 January. He said that the path for the construction of the Ram temple has been paved under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today, under his leadership, the country is moving forward on the path of continuous progress. He recalled that lord Ram also has a special relationship with Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Raghunath temple in Devprayag is dedicated to lord Ram, while another temple in Bageshwar district near the Saryu river is also dedicated to lord Ram. He also said that the origin place of the divine Saryu river is in Uttarakhand and Ram is seated in Ayodhya Dham on the banks of Saryu.
The Chief Minister claimed that the people of Uttarakhand are always ahead in the service to lord Ram, which is called Ramkaj. He also stated that along with declaring a holiday for educational institutions on the 22nd, the state government has also declared a holiday in government offices till 2:30 pm. He said that the Uttarakhand government had requested the Uttar Pradesh government to provide land near Ayodhya Dham for building Uttarakhand Sadan in Ayodhya and added that the land has been allotted to the Uttarakhand government. He said that a grand Uttarakhand Sadan will be built for the people of Uttarakhand on about three acres of land. He said that after the consecration of the idol of lord Ram in Ayodhya, the Uttarakhand government, along with the cabinet, will go to Ayodhya to visit the Ram temple.
The Chief Minister said that every resident of Uttarakhand is celebrating the occasion of the consecration of Ram Lala temple with full splendor. Under the cultural festival within the state, temple cleaning campaigns and bhajan kirtans are going on in various temples and ghats. He said that Uttarakhand is continuously progressing due to the grace of Lord Ram. The people are witnessing the consecration of Ram Mandir when India has become the fifth-largest economy in the world.On this occasion, Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, MP Mala Rajyalakshmi Shah, MLAs Khajan Das, Vinod Chamoli, Savita Kapoor, RSS state Pracharak Dr Shailendra Singh, Mahant Raman Goswami, Mahant Krishna Giri Maharaj, General Secretary BJP (Organization) Ajaey Kumar, and BJP Mahanagar President Siddharth Aggarwal were among those present.
Later, Dhami flagged off the grand procession, following which women, children, and youth all came out on the streets of the city chanting slogans in praise of lord Ram. Dropping points were set at various places for buses coming from outside. Six parking spaces were used for local vehicles.
SP Traffic Sarvesh Panwar said that police forces were deployed at various duty points.
