3 min readNew DelhiJan 22, 2024 08:25 PM IST
First published on: Jan 22, 2024 at 05:34 PM IST
As the country witnessed the Ayodhya Ram Temple’s ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony, Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of All India Imam Organization (AIIO), on Monday maintained that the biggest religion is humanity.
Speaking to ANI from the widely-attended ceremony in Ayodhya, Ilyasi said, “This is the face of new India. Our biggest religion is humanity. For us, the nation is first.”
The AIIO claims to represent half-a-million imams across 3 lakh mosques in India. It also claims to be the “largest Muslim organisation in India”. Ilyasi, meanwhile, is no stranger to meetings with members of the ruling dispensation. He has interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions, after their first meeting in 2018, and also met Home Minister Amit Shah. Ilyasi has also had meetings with spiritual leaders such as Jagadish Vasudev (Sadhguru) and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, among others. He met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in September 2022, after which he called the latter ‘rashtra pita’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, said the consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla at the magnificent Ram temple marks the advent of a new era and called upon people to build the foundation of a strong, grand and divine India of the next 1,000 years.
Addressing a gathering after the consecration ceremony, Modi said this occasion is not of mere triumph but of humility. The Ram Temple will be witness to the dawn of a prosperous and developed India, he said. “Today, our Ram has arrived. After a long wait for ages, our Ram has arrived. Our Ram Lalla will no longer live in a tent. Our Ram Lalla will stay in a magnificent temple,” Modi said in his 36-minute-long speech.
The prime minister took part in the consecration ceremony inside the sanctum sanctorum of the grand Ram temple, made possible by a historic Supreme Court judgment in 2019 on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. Modi also offered prayers at Kuber Tila and showered flower petals on the construction workers of the Ram Temple.
The temple, built in the traditional Nagara style of architecture, spans 380 feet in length (east-west), 250 feet in width and 161 feet in height. It is supported by 392 pillars and has 44 doors.
Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of All India Imam Organization, at the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony. (ANI) 
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