The first anniversary of the inauguration of the Shri Ram temple at Ayodhya was observed in the city, with prayers at temples and cultural programmes.
Many temples observed the anniversary on January 11 per the Hindu lunar calendar. The consecration ceremony took place in the month of Paush on Dwadashi, the 12th day of the Shukla paksha or waxing moon. In 2025, this date fell on January 11. The Shree Ram Mandir in Wadala and the Ram Mandir, Padhyewadi, Dadar, two of the most important Ram shrines in the city, observed the anniversary on January 11.
“We had kirtans and namasmaran programmes that today,’ said Karishma Salunkhe of the temple trust.
The Ayodhya temple trust has said that henceforth, the anniversary of the temple’ inauguration will be referred to as Pratishtha Dwadashi.
Many temples in Mumbai organised Satyanarayana Pujas on Wednesday to mark the anniversary. Satyanarayana Pujas are held in honour of Lord Vishnu to invoke his blessings.
To commemorate the anniversary, the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts Sabha on January 22 organised a dance ballet by disabled performers of “Ability Unlimited” on ‘Ramayana on Wheels’ with a Sangeetha abhishekam singing.
The drama took audiences through seven chapters, or kandas, of the Ramayana. The dance drama was enacted in different languages in classical Bharata Natyam, Kathak, Sufi, and Yogic poses. Many of the artists have conditions like polio, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, and autism. “These dances have proved that wheels can replace legs. Each of the moves is so perfected that it is difficult to believe that dancers with a disability could do that. Sometimes more perfect than that of the professional dancers with all the limbs intact,” said the president of the Sabha Dr V Shankar.
