Tears Rolled Down Our Eyes, Say Couples Who Were 'Yajmans' At Consecration Ceremony

January 22 was a day that will be forever etched in the memories of all Indians, as the Ram temple was inaugurated at Ayodhya.

But for the 15 couples who were the 'mukhya yajman' for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, it was a different experience altogether.

AP

"Divine experience and a proud moment" is how they described the moment, which had them tearing up.

"The day will be etched in our memories forever. Tears rolled down our eyes during the ceremony, it was such a divine experience," Anil Chaudhury, from the family of "Dom Raja" told PTI.

Dom Raja is the custodian of the torch employed for illuminating funeral pyres at Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats, and is acknowledged as the leader of the Harijan community's lowest sub-caste.

Atmosphere cannot be grasped while watching it on TV

"It was a proud moment for us. Such a surreal experience¡­ while we were inside, our family members were among the attendees. Just to be here on a historic day is a big deal for anybody and getting to perform the rituals¡­ What more could I have asked from Lord Ram," said Vitthal Rao Kamble from Maharashtra, one of the yajmans.

AFP

Kailash Yadav, convenor of Govardhan Puja Samiti, Varanasi and director of a district cooperative bank, said, "The kind of atmosphere one can see in Ayodhya today is something which cannot be grasped while watching it on TV. When we got to know that we had been chosen as yajmans, we couldn't believe it. It must be Lord Ram's desire that we were chosen to perform the rituals."

Who were the yajmans?

A yajamana is the ritual patron, on whose behalf a religious ritual or a yajna is performed by a Hindu priest.

Generally, a Brahmin is chosen to be Yajman.

But the The 14 couples chosen to be yajman for the Ram temple consecration at Ayodhya included Dalits, tribals, backwards and upper castes, who were chosen from across the country.

Credit: X

The yajmans were:

Ramchandra Kharadi from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Ram Kui Jemi from Assam, Gurucharan Singh Gill from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Adalarasan from Tamil Nadu, Lingaraj Basavraj from Karnataka and Vitthal Rao Kamble from Maharashtra, Mahadev Rao Gaikwad from Ghumantu Samaj Trust in Maharashtra's Latur, Dilip Valmiki from Lucknow, Kavindra Pratap Singh and Kailash Yadav from Kashi, Krishna Mohan from Hardoi, and Ramesh Jain from the Multani Lohar community in Uttar Pradesh, and Arun Chowdhury from Palwal in Haryana.

Along with them, RSS leader Anil Mishra and his wife presided over the daily rituals which began on January 16 ahead of the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.