The 'bhoomi pujan' (ceremonial breaking of ground to begin a construction work) of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya will be performed on August 5 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A day after the first meeting of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust—where two dates, August 3 and 5 were suggested for the ceremony—a final date has been confirmed.
The ceremony will take place between 11am and 1.30pm during the Abhijaat mahurat—a time held to be vastly auspicious in the Vedic Astrology system.
There was speculation on whether or not Modi would be present in person for the ceremony. The seers of Ayodhya, meanwhile, had expressed their wish that he attend and perform the bhoomi pujan, and not just be part of it virtually.
At the pujan, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairperson of the Trust, will donate a Shri Ram shila (rock in the likeness of the deity). This will also be worshipped as part of the ceremony.
Besides Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also be present. Invites will also be sent to about 200 prominent personalities connected to the Ram Mandir movement, including Ram Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
In the meeting held on Saturday, which was attended by 12 members of the Trust in person, with three joining it virtually, it was decided that the temple would be 161-feet tall and have five domes, instead of the initially planned three. The basic design proposed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad shall be adhered to but the dimensions will be grander.
The temple is likely to take anywhere between 3.5 and 5 years to complete.