No official photograph or video of idol till Jan. 17; ‘Nagar yatra’ in Ayodhya on Jan. 16

Mysore/Mysuru: The idol of ‘Ram Lalla’ carved by Mysuru’s renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj — hailing from a lineage of five generations of renowned sculptors — will adorn the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya, reports said. The temple is scheduled to open on Jan. 22, with the consecration ceremony commencing at 12.20 pm.

In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) yesterday, former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said, “The idol of Lord Rama sculpted by the sculptor Arun Yogiraj of Mysuru has been selected for installation in the magnificent Sri Rama Mandir of Ayodhya, which has doubled the pride and happiness of the entire Rama devotees of the state. Heartfelt congratulations to ‘Shilpi @yogiraj_arun.”

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a social media post that the selection of the idol for the ‘Prana Pratishtapana’ of Lord Rama in Ayodhya has been finalised. “The idol of Lord Rama, carved by renowned sculptor of our country Yogiraj Arun, will be installed in Ayodhya.”

Yediyurappa’s son and BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra too hailed Yogiraj for making the State and Mysuru proud. “It is the pride of Mysuru, the pride of Karnataka that the idol of Ram Lalla carved by the unparalleled sculpture Arun Yogiraj will be enshrined in Ayodhya on Jan. 22,” Vijayendra said.

Vijayendra added that Karnataka has a deep connection with Lord Rama as Kishkindha is located here. It is Kishkindha where Rama’s ardent devotee Lord Hanuman was born.

Preferences in writing

Reports said that on Dec. 29, all 11 members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust met in Ayodhya to finalise the idol through voting. Ex-officio members were not part of the process. Preferences provided by the Trust members were submitted in writing to the President of the Trust, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

Later, Trust General Secretary Champat Rai said that the selection of the idol has been done. However, no official announcement will be made or a photograph or video of the idol will be released till Jan. 17. The idol will be taken out on ‘nagar yatra’ that starts on Jan. 16.

Three idols are on the shortlist: Two, carved in black stone, are by Arun Yogiraj and Ganesh Bhatt of Karnataka; and the third, in white, by Satyanarayan Pandey of Rajasthan. Reports said that Arun Yogiraj’s idol was selected for the prestigious installation in the sanctum sanctorum while the other two idols will be placed in the temple at separate locations.

Yogiraj has carved the idol using a unique Krishna Shile (black schist) from Gujjegowdanapura village (Jayapura hobli) in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysuru District. As per reports, the tailor, who has been creating outfits for Ram Lalla since 1985, has begun crafting a unique yellow dress for the consecration ceremony.