New Delhi:
In his first visit to Ayodhya after Lok Sabha Elections 2019, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday unveiled a statue of Lord Ram at Shodh Sansthan museum.
The seven-foot-tall statue is made of a single block of rosewood and will be put on display at the museum. The statue which depicts Kodamb Ram - one of the five avatars of Lord Ram – was purchased for Rs 35 lakh from Karnataka.
“The statue was purchased from the Karnataka State Arts and Craft Emporium,” a government spokesman said. Though the museum has over 2,500 artefacts related to Lord Ram and his life, it did not have any piece depicting Kodamb Ram.
Some reports stated that the UP Chief Minister will also release a special postal stamp of the statue in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Postmaster General. According to reports, CM Yogi will also participate in the birthday celebrations of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
Interestingly, the chief minister’s visit was announced a day after the BJP’s ally Shiv Sena said that its party chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodha next week on June 15. As per the information from the sources, Uddhav Thackeray is likely to be in Ayodhya from June 15 till June 17.
The demand for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya reached its peak as soon as the NDA registered a thumping victory in the recently concluded general elections. The Shiv Sena is also now stepping up the pressure on ally BJP for construction of Ram temple.
It is to be noted that the Shiv Sena chief had visited Ayodhya in November last year and demanded that Ram temple be constructed at the disputed site before the Lok Sabha elections. Thackeray had also performed ‘Sarayu Aarati’ (offer prayers to River Sarayu).
