New York: Indian Americans across the US celebrated the foundation stone laying ceremony on August 5 of the historic Ram Temple in the holy city of Ayodhya, notably at Times Square in New York where a huge 3D image of Lord Ram and the temple model was beamed, and in Washington DC.
In Times Square a large crowd of people (creditable given the corona times) collected to celebrate on Thursday evening. “We felt as if we were in Ayodhya. The atmosphere was filled with chanting of Ram’s name. Ram Bhaktas were dancing and singing devotionals,” Jagdish Sewhani, President of the American India Public Affairs Committee, told The South Asian Times. Others who spoke at the event included HR Shah, Saumitra Gokhale, Kamal Gupta, Jaswinder Singh Multani , Amba Sharma and Dr Dipak Nandi.
In Washington DC, the highlight of the celebration was the ‘Ayodhya Sri Ram Mandir Tableau’ ferried between the Capitol Hill and White House on Wednesday. took out a tableau truck on Tuesday with the digital image of Ram Temple. Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad – America chanted slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” and moved around the city later.
Temples across the country held special prayers to mark the occasion.
While the public celebrations were limited due to the pandemic, a number of virtual events by various Hindu community groups kicked off in various parts of the country to mark the importance of the occasion. People also lit diyas to celebrate.
Many people stayed up all night to watch live the Ayodhya ceremonies online.
“Congratulations to all Indians especially to Hindus, Jains and all who worship Lord Ram on this historic day of the laying the foundation stone for building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a California-based community leader, said.
