Lucknow: Ayodhya has been decked up for the ceremony of the foundation stone of Ram Mandir, and welcoming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation brick to the temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Ayodhya at 11:30am via Lucknow. He first offering prayers at Hanumangarhi, the seat of Lord Hanuman, a three kilometers away to the Ram Janma Bhoomi place. Later Modi reached to the Rama Janma Bhoomi poojan place, and spent 15 minutes for the ceremony between 12:30pm and 12:45pm, and will be performed in the presence of 175 select guests.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with UP Governor Anandiben Patel, CM Yogi Adityanath, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Temple Trust President Nritya Gopal Das will be on the dias. The PM will also plant a parijatha tree and release a commemorative postal stamp on the Ram Temple. The ceremony will be telecast live on Doordarshan.

Ayodhya has been decked up for the ceremony of the foundation stone to Ram Mandir and over 3500 security personnel deployed across the temple town for foolproof security concerned over the spread of Covid-19, the authorities are encouraging people not to come to the town, asking them to mark the occasion by celebrating in their homes.

Roads leading to Ayodhya display hoardings with pictures of the Ram Temple and Ram Lalla, the infant Ram, the deity now housed in a makeshift temple. Borders of Ayodhya district, however, have been sealed. SSP Deepak Kumar said the focus of the force was on maintaining the Covid-19 protocol.  Adityanath, who has appealed to people to watch the ceremony from their homes during to Covid-19 restrictions.