Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bachchan among 7,000 invited for Ram temple consecration
Ayodhya, Dec 6: The Ram temple trust has invited 7,000 people including cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, and billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, sources said on Wednesday.
Actors Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia, who played the roles of Lord Ram in the famous TV serial "Ramayan", have also been invited to the ceremony that will be held on January 22, 2024.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already been invited.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent invitations to 7,000 people, including 3,000 VVIPs, for the consecration. The families of kar sevaks killed in the police firing in Ayodhya will also be invited to the ceremony, the sources said.
Among the VVIPs are RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Yoga guru Ramdev, industrialists Mukesh Ambai, Ratan Tata and Gautam Adani, they said.
The trust has also invited 4,000 seers from across the country.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai said, "Efforts are also being made to invite one representative each from 50 countries for the consecration ceremony."
"Family members of the 50 kar sevaks who lost their lives during the Ram temple movement have also been invited. Invitations have also been sent to judges, scientists, writers and poets," he said.
Besides, saints, priests, shankaracharyas, religious leaders, former civil servants, retired Army officers, lawyers, musicians and Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardees have been invited.
VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma said, "We have also invited journalists who supported the Ram temple movement through their newspapers, writings and reporting. Without them, this struggle for the Ram temple would have been incomplete."
VVIPs will get entry through bar code passes.
"Out of the 7,000 invitees, about 4,000 will be religious leaders from across the country and the remaining 3,000 will be VVIPs from different areas. A registration link will be shared with the invitees ahead of the ceremony. Once they register, a bar code will be generated and it will serve as the entry pass," Sharma said.
Champat Rai, secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said, "Ramlala will be seated in the Ram temple as a 5-year-old boy. For this, three idols are being carved from two rocks -- one each from Karnataka and Rajasthan."
"The idols are 90 per cent ready and are being given the final touches. The most attractive idol will be selected for the consecration," said Champat Rai.
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Will allow only individuals with more than two children to contest local body polls: Andhra CM
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that an individual can become a sarpanch, municipal councillor or a mayor only if he/she has more than two children, hinting that it will arrest the falling population.
Naidu said he will bring out policies to encourage people to have more children.
"At one time, individuals with many children were not allowed to contest the panchayat (election) or local bodies. Now what I am saying is that individuals with lower numbers of children cannot contest. You will be a sarpanch, municipal councillor, corporation chairman or a mayor only if you have more than two children," he told reporters in Naravaripalle here recently.
According to the CM, North India may lose its advantage of having a stable fertility rate in about 15 years.
The TDP supremo noted that the older generations had more children, while the current generation brought it down to one child and also highlighted that some 'smart' people nowadays are going for double income no kids (DINK) concept to enjoy.
"Your parents bore four to five children and you reduced it to one. Even smarter people now are saying double income no kids let us enjoy. If their parents had thought like them, they would not have come into this world," he said.
All countries made this mistake, and we have to make the decision at the right time, said Naidu, adding that the importance of having more children was not stressed and the situation went out of hand.
Citing countries like South Korea and Japan and continental Europe, he said people in those places did not realise the danger of plummeting populations but only focused on creating wealth, raising income and taking those countries forward.
"Now they need people, we have to send them. We came to that situation," Naidu added.
Early this month, Naidu flagged the falling birthrates and said India should not repeat the mistakes committed by other countries such as South Korea and Japan, where birthrates have plummeted.
The CM said some couples are averse to having children nowadays because they do not want to share the money they earned and use those riches for their own enjoyment.
Naidu, in October last year, said there was a need to manage the population in Andhra Pradesh given that there will be an increase in the aging population.
"Till 2047, we will have the demographic dividend, there will be more youngsters. After 2047, there will be more old people…if less than two children are given birth (per woman), then the population will reduce. If you (each woman) give birth to more than two children, then the population will increase," Naidu had said.
