Representational. (The Indian Express photo)
Wayanad: When the Ram Temple consecration takes stage in Ayodhya, the BJP-led NDA is planning to grandly celebrate the same in Kerala's Wayanad, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, PTI reported.
Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar will join NDA leaders at a Lord Ram Temple in the hill district to attend the ceremony being organised in Ayodhya, which will be telecast live on January 22, party sources said here on Friday.
They will watch the live telecast of the Ayodhya ceremony at the Ponkuzhi Sree Rama Temple.
Besides Javadekar and local BJP leaders, the event will be attended by NDA state convenor Thushar Vellappally, a BJP source told PTI.
Vellappally, son of Eazhava community leader and SNDP yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, was the NDA candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency when Gandhi contested the 2019 election.
He is the leader of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), an ally of the BJP in Kerala.
BJP sources highlight the significance of the event being held at the Kerala temple, located on the Sulthan Bathery-Mysore Road, which, according to them, is closely connected to the Ramayana.
The event, organised in Gandhi's constituency, is also intended to send a nationwide message to the Congress party and its leadership, who have rejected an invitation to attend the temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, according to sources.
The temple is located in a calm and peaceful area near the banks of the Ponkuzhi River, approximately 4 km away from the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary.
The primary deities worshipped at this temple are Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Lord Lakshman and Lord Hanuman.