The final guest list is being finalised by the PMO, keeping in mind security concerns and the pandemic.
New Delhi: One lakh twenty-five thousand pieces of the iconic besan laddus that are given to followers of the Hanuman Mahavir temple at Patna as prasad, will be distributed between the devotees of Lord Ram, who are going to attend the 5 August foundation ceremony of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Approximately 5 lakh pieces of laddus will be distributed during the 5 August ceremony. Apart from the Mahavir temple, laddus are also being donated by saints of Gorakhpur math and followers of Nritya Gopal Das and Devraha Hans Baba for distribution among the devotees.
According to Kishore Kunal, trustee of the Mahavir Mandir, the Mahavir Mandir has sent 15 of its artisans, who have been making laddus for the devotees of Hanuman at the Patna temple, to Ayodhya where they are preparing laddus at Ram Rasoi.
“All artisans are from Tirupati and are of Iyengar faith. They have been working at Patna unit for the last several years. The laddus, that will come in different sizes, will be made available in packets ranging between 250 grams to one kg and would be handed over to the security agencies at Ayodhya on 3 August,” Kunal, who was an OSD on Ayodhya affairs in the Union Home ministry during the P.V. Narsimha Rao ministry, told The Sunday Guardian.
While the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust general secretary Champat Rai has submitted a long list of guests who should be invited for the ceremony, the final guest list is being finalised by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), keeping in mind the security concerns and the pandemic.
According to Kunal, who is a former IPS of Gujarat cadre, the ingredients of the laddushave come from different geographical regions. While the besan (gram-flour) has been imported from Australia, kesar (saffron) has come from Kashmir, kaju (cashew), kismis (raisins), elaichi (cardamom) from Kerala, while 600 kg ghee (clarified butter) has been requisitioned from Karnataka.
The artisans building the laddusare from Telangana and Tamil Nadu. Sugar has been brought from Uttar Pradesh, where the temple is located.
Official sources said that the VVIPs would be given one kg packs, while non-VIPs would be given 250 grampacks. The ladduspackets would also be sent to the different embassies in the national capital and to the residence of prominent persons who have been associated with the Ram temple construction movement.
After the conclusion of the main ceremony at Ayodhya, the offerings offered to Ram at Ayodhya would be sent to different prominent places associated with Ram in Bihar which are situated in Buxar, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Hajipur.
Due to strains in India-Nepal diplomatic relations, laddus may not be sent to Janakpur in Nepal.It is believed that Sita was from Janakpur. Earlier, following the meetings between the two Prime Ministers of Nepal and India, inter-country bus services had started operating between Sitamarhi in Bihar and Janakpur, but now the movement has been suspended.
The Mahavir Mandir trust was the first to contribute Rs 10 crore for construction of the temple immediately after the Supreme Court judgment last year.
The Trust’s centre at Ayodhya centre, which is situated at Ram Rasoi, had fed 80,000 migrant workers at Ayodhya station and on the highways during the lockdown period.