''Emotional Moment'': Uttarakhand Chief Minister After Offering Prayers At Ayodhya Ram Temple

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday paid obeisance at the Ram temple here along with his cabinet colleagues and said it was a very emotional moment for him.

Uttarakhand ministers Satpal Maharaj, Premchand Aggarwal, Subodh Uniyal, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya, and Rajya Sabha member Naresh Bansal accompanied Dhami during his visit to the city in Uttar Pradesh.

"When I was a student at Lucknow University, I had visited Ayodhya many times. Seeing Lord Ram Lalla in a tent, I was pained. But today, we are feeling proud that once again Ram Yug is coming," the chief minister said while talking to reporters after paying obeisance at the temple.

The idol of Ram Lalla was kept at a makeshift shrine while the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title case was being heard in the court. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of construction of the temple at the site while ordering the allotment of an alternative piece of land for a mosque.

On January 22, the new Ram temple was inaugurated after the consecration of the new idol of Ram Lalla. "It is a matter of great privilege for me that we have come here. It is a very emotional moment for me that Lord Ram Lalla is here in the temple after 500 years," the chief minister said.

Mr. Dhami said that Ram Yug has started again under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It was the dream of every devotee of Lord Ram that a grand and divine temple be built where he was born, and this work has been completed now, he said.

Mr Dhami said the Saryu river flows from Uttarakhand and reaches here and "the Raghunath temple is in Devprayag, where Lord Ram performed 'Pitri Yagya'". "We have a very deep connection and the people of Uttarakhand will always come here," he said.

"I am overwhelmed with emotions," the Uttarakhand chief minister said.

To a question on a Uttarakhand Bhawan in Ayodhya, Dhami said, "I have requested the Uttar Pradesh government and the chief minister... there is a very deep connection between Ayodhya Dham and Uttarakhand, and if we get land, we will have a guesthouse here."

"Our government has sanctioned Rs 32 crore for buying land for the purpose. The state guesthouse will be built over 4,700 square metres of land. Ram devotees coming from Uttarakhand to Ayodhya for a darshan can stay at the guesthouse," he said.

Before leaving for Ayodhya from the Jolly Grant Airport in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, Mr Dhami said his heart is filled with a feeling of devotion and joy as he heads for a darshan of Ram Lalla.

On reaching the city, he was welcomed by Minister of State of Uttar Pradesh Satish Chandra Sharma among others.

Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the temple, said, "I hope that all chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will come here and visit. We welcome Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his cabinet colleagues." 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)