Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: Legendary Indian bowlers Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad have reached Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh to attend the Ram Temple ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony on Monday.
Besides Anil and Venkatesh, some other star cricketers who have received the invitation to attend the event are MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The 53-year-old Kumble was on Sunday captured in Ayodhya, where he will be attending the ceremony tomorrow.
Venkatesh took to X (formerly Twitter) to inform that he had reached Ayodhya and termed it as “one of our most significant days”.
“Jai Shree Ram. What a moment. All in readiness to witness an event of a lifetime. One of our most significant days. Whole of Ayodhya and the majority of our nation pulsating with joy. Ayodhyapati Shree Ramchandra ji ki Jai,” tweeted the former pace bowler.
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 (Monday). Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others present on the occasion will express their thoughts after the ceremony. As per tradition, gifts in 1000 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, Kumble is one of the greatest bowlers to have played the sport. With 956 international wickets, he is the fourth-highest wicket-taker ever in the sport. Also, Venkatesh secured 292 wickets in his international career which lasted from 1994-2001.
