Purity rituals commenced in Ayodhya on Tuesday ahead of the Ram Mandir inauguration on January 22 with temple authorities saying the construction of the entire structure would be completed by the end of the year.

The rituals, which will last till January 21 on the eve of the inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, started today with the lighting of a 108-feet-long incense stick in the presence of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Kshetra Trust chief. Ram temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said on the occasion that 11 priests were performing the rituals invoking all the deities. He said the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony would begin at 12:20 pm and conclude at 1 pm on January 22.

Temple trust general secretary Champat Rai said the idol of Ram Lalla would be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on the ground floor on January 18. Rai shared plans to place the idol of Lord Ram with Janki mata, his three brothers and Lord Hanuman on the first floor saying, “That will take eight months.”

Temple construction committee chairperson Nripendra Misra, meanwhile, said the construction of the entire three-storeyed temple would conclude by December. 

“Right now, the ground floor has been built. The first and second floors will be completed by December,” he said.

A senior engineer working at the temple told The Tribune that over 65 per cent of the work was complete.

“Twenty feet pillars on which the roof of the temple is mounted is nearing completion. Construction of the Sinh Dwar, entrance to the temple, and the part behind the sanctum sanctorum, called Mahapeeth, will also be completed soon. The construction of the retaining wall is almost over,” he said amid objections by Jyotirpeeth Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati who cited scriptures to say that ‘pratishtha’ should only happen once the temple is fully constructed. 

(This article was first published in The Tribune, India.)