Rourkela: As Ayodhya gears up for the consecration ceremony at Ram Temple on January 22, Odisha’s steel city Rourkela is preparing to celebrate the mega event in a unique way. To mark the occasion, a huge earthen lamp is being crafted by artisans in the city.
The 12 feet wide and 5.5 feet high diya with a capacity to hold 6500 litres of ghee will be lit on the day to mark Ram Lalla’s ‘pran pratistha’ at Ayodhya, sources said.
The initiative to prepare the huge diya, stated to be the largest earthen lamp ever made in Odisha, has been undertaken by an organisation – Smile Forever Foundation.
The lamp, being built by a team of artisans at Bandhamunda in the steel city for the last one month, will be ready in around 3 days.
Speaking about the large lamp, artist Babai Pal said his team members were very happy after getting the order to make diya for the Ram Temple consecration ceremony.
Stating that they have been making idols from mud and plaster of Paris for a long time, he said it was fairly easy for them to prepare earthen lamp.
Neetu Pandit, another diya artisan, said that they are preparing the huge lamp as a symbolic contribution towards celebrating the grand event of the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya though they cannot go there to participate. The lamp will be lit at the Hanuman Vatika in the cityon January 22.”
Founder of Smile Forever Foundation Santosh Biswal said January 22 is of great significance for all. Around 80 per cent of the work to make the diya has already been done and it will be ready soon, he said, adding that the lamp will be taken out for a ‘parikrama’ in the city before offering it to Lord Ram at the Hanuman Vatika.
