After 27 years, Ram Lalla shifted out of makeshift temple in Ayodhya

The ceremony took place at around 4.30 am on Wednesday, on the first day of nine-day-long Navratri festival.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday attended a ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya when the deity Ram Lalla was relocated from the makeshift temple to a pre-fabricated one within the premises.

The ceremony took place at around 4.30 am on Wednesday, on the first day of nine-day-long Navratri festival.

Ram Lalla, the presiding deity of the Ram Janmabhoomi, was shifted from sanctum sanctorum of the temple after 27 years (December 6, 1992).

 On the occasion, members of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust were also present.

Adityanath led the ceremony along with several priests from New Delhi, Ayodhya and Varanasi.

The deity was shifted in a palanquin from the makeshift temple on an auspicious time decided by priests. The chief minister was among four people who carried this palanquin to new location which is few metres from the existing makeshift temple. 

 The shifting of the deity is part of the plan to construct grand temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi.

Vedic rituals had started at Ram Janmabhoomi on Monday morning ahead of the shifting of Ram Lalla and continued till Tuesday.

Priests from Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Haridwar, Mathura, Varanasi and Ayodhya took part in the auspicious rituals.