Veteran actor Rajnikanth, accompanied by his wife Latha, visited Ayodhya on Sunday for a darshan of Ram Lalla and the under-construction temple.
Clad in a white dhoti and kurta, with Latha in an orange salwar kurta, the visibly emotional film star said that it had been a long cherished dream of his to come for the darshan.
Later, at the temple construction site he was full of questions about its style, the expected completion time and the kind of stones used.
Sharad Sharma, the VHP spokesperson, said, “He was full of praise for the size, the grand architecture and was especially impressed by the carvings”.
“He was also happily surprised at the pace of construction,” Sharma said.
The superstar who arrived in Lucknow on Friday said that he hoped to be back once the temple construction was completed. “God willing, I will be back,” he said.
Before visiting the Ram Mandir, the actor went to offer prayers at Hanumangarhi. He met the Mandir construction committee members and the engineers, besides some administrative officials.
Earlier in the day, Rajnikanth met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. Yadav later tweeted a photo of him and the actor embracing each other.
The SP leader said the happiness he had felt watching Rajnikanth’s movies as a student of engineering in Mysore was the same happiness he felt meeting him in person.
“When hearts meet, people embrace…We met 9 years ago personally and since then we have been friends,” Yadav wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The actor also paid homage to late former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
