A remark by a Congress MLA on the colour of the Ram Lalla idol installed in the new temple in Ayodhya led to a heated exchange between legislators in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday.

During a debate on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, Congress MLA from Jaspur, Adesh Singh Chauhan, questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the colour of the Ram Lalla idol.

“According to the Hindu scriptures, Ram was ‘sanwala’ (dusky), but you people made the Ram Lalla idol installed in the temple in Ayodhya black,” Chauhan said, according to PTI.

The remark sparked a huge row as BJP ministers and other legislators questioned the Congress MLA.

Reacting sharply to the allegation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Premchand Aggarwal rose from his seat and asked the Congress member to speak only on the UCC bill.

“You must stop making insulting remarks against Lord Ram,” he said, according to the news agency. The BJP leader also described the Congress as a party which had denied the very existence of Ram.

Uttarakhand’s finance and parliamentary work minister Prem Chand Aggarwal also criticised Chahuhan, questioning how he could make such a remark about Lord Ram. Slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ were also raised in the House, as per media reports.

The row, however, subsided after an intervention from Speaker Ritu Khanduri, who asked the Congress MLA to not deviate from the UCC, which was the subject of discussion, according to PTI.

Ram Temple inauguration

On January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram temple in the presence of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, governor Anandiben Patel and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The prime minister performed the last Vedic rituals of the ceremony by symbolically opening the eyes of the Ram Lalla idol with a golden stick, and ending the rites with aarti and shashtang pranam (prostration) to the deity.

The 51-inch idol of the deity was decorated with a golden crown and gold ornaments, and carried a golden bow and arrow.

The idol, crafted by sculptor Arun Yogiraj from Mysuru, is hewn from a three-billion-year-old rock. The azure-coloured Krishna Shile (black schist) used for the sculpture was extracted from Gujjegowdanapura in Jayapura Hobli, HD Kote Taluk of Mysuru. This fine-to-medium-grained, sky-blue metamorphic rock, commonly known as soapstone due to its smooth surface texture, is ideal for sculptors in carving idols.

The idol of Ram Lalla is referred to as “Balak Ram” as it depicts the deity as a five-year-old boy in a standing posture.

Since its opening, the Ram temple has witnessed a massive influx of devotees who continue to arrive in the temple town from various parts of India and the world.