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10/01/24 07:33 AM IST

Pran pratishtha at Ayodhya Ram temple

In News
  • The day of the pran pratishtha of the idol at Ayodhya’s Ram temple is coming closer.
  • The pran pratishtha ceremony will be held on January 22, and various rituals will begin from January 16.
Pran Pratishtha
  • Pran prathistha is the act which transforms an idol into a deity, giving it the capacity to accept prayers and grant boons. For this, the statue has to go through various stages.
  • The process of the pran pratishtha is mentioned in the Vedas and elaborated upon in various Puranas, such as Mastya Puran, Vaman Puran, Narad Puran, etc.
Shobha yatra
  • One of the first stages is a shobha yatra, or a procession of the idol, taken out in the neighbourhood of the temple.
  • For the Ram idol in Ayodhya, the shobha yatra is on January 17.
  • During this yatra, as the idol is greeted and cheered on by onlookers, some of their devotion is transferred into it, imbuing it with devotion and divine strength. It is, thus, the devotee who begins the alchemy of turning a statue into God.
  • Once the idol comes back to the mandap begin the rituals that make up pran pratishtha.
The adhivas
  • To ready the idol for the pran pratishtha, multiple adhivaas are conducted, in which the idol is submerged in various materials.
  • For one night, the idol is kept in water, which is called jalãdhivãs.
  • Then it is submerged in grain, which is called dhãnyãdhivãs. Jha explained that when an idol is being crafted, it sustains various injuries from the craftsman’s tools.
  • These adhivaas are meant to heal up all such injuries. Dipakbhai explained that the process serves another purpose:
  • “If the idol has a defect, or if the stone is not of a great quality, it will be found out when it is submerged in various materials
Opening of the eyes
  • After the statue has adequately recovered from the stress of its fashioning and has been given its ritual bath comes the time for it to be awakened.
  • Many mantras are chanted, asking for various Gods to come and animate its various parts — Soorya the eyes, Vayu the ears, Chandra the mind, etc.
  • Then comes the final step, the opening of the statue’s eyes.
  • This ceremony involves putting anjan, somewhat like kohl, around the deity’s eyes, with a gold needle. This process is carried out from behind, as it is believed that if one looks into God’s eyes the moment they open, their brilliance can be too much to take.
  • Originally, the anjan was supposed to have been brought back from the Kakood mountain. A black stone found on the mountain is rubbed to create the black powder needed for the ceremony.
Source- Indian Express

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