Dhoni, Kohli and Anuskha get invitation for ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony at Ram temple

RANCHI, MUMBAI: World Cup-winning former India captain M S Dhoni star batter Virat Kohli and his wife and actor Anuksha Sharma on Monday received an invitation to attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Temple on January 22 in Ayodhya. The ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 22.

Dhoni was given the invitation by Dhananjay Singh, co-province secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). State Organization General Secretary of BJP Karmaveer Singh was also present as Dhoni was formally invited.

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India’s batting talisman Virat Kohli and his wife actor Anushka Sharma on Tuesday received an invitation to attend the Ram Temple ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony on January 22 in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Kohli became the latest cricketer to be invited to the ceremony.

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar has also been invited for the ceremony at the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Several Bollywood celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Tiger Shroff, Jackie Shroff, Hariharan, Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda have also received the invitation for the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony in Ayodhya.

Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya began on Tuesday, a week before the main ceremony. General secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai said Ram temple will be open for ‘darshan’ for the general public from January 23.

“The ‘Pran Prathishtha’ is expected to conclude by 1 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others present on the occasion will express their thoughts after the ceremony. As per tradition, gifts in 1,000 baskets have come from Nepal’s Janakpur and areas of Mithila. On Jan 20 and 21 darshan will remain closed to public”, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started an 11-day special ritual in the run-up to the Pran Pratishtha of Shri Ramlala at the temple at Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, Kohli is a part of India’s T20I squad against Afghanistan. India and visitors will lock horns on Wednesday in the third and last match of the three-match T20I series at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. (ANI)