As Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the historic consecration of Ram Lalla’s (child deity) idol at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, Union ministers and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders marked the day by offering prayers and organising grand celebrations across the country.

The idol of Ram Lalla was unveiled at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandi Ben Patel. Given the constraints of space and security, only a fixed number of invitations were sent out for the Pran Pratishtha (consecration ceremony) at the Ram Temple.

Leading the celebrations from Delhi, Union home minister Amit Shah offered prayers at the Shri Laxmi Narayan Temple, also known as Birla Mandir. Shah, along with Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi, later watched live streaming of the consecration ceremony.

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In a post on X, Shah paid respects to the “great men who kept this struggle and determination alive for centuries”. “…The struggle of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, thousands of great saints and innumerable famous and unknown people has yielded a pleasant and successful result today. This huge Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple will remain a unique symbol of imperishable eternal culture for ages,” he said in a message in Hindi.

BJP national president JP Nadda and party’s Delhi unit chief Virendraa Sachdeva offered prayers and watched the live telecast of the grand ceremony at Jhandewalan Temple in Delhi.

“It’s an emotional sacred moment today after more than 500 years of continuous struggle. Lord Shri Ram Lalla has been consecrated in the ‘dharma nagri’ of Shri Ayodhyadham as per the rituals. It is the utmost fortunate moment for our generation that we are witness to this moment,” he posted on X.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh offered prayers at his residence and later visited the Sanatan Dharma Mandir in Daryaganj, Delhi. “On the historic day of ‘Pran Pratishtha’, I did worship and offered prayer at home. Jai Shri Ram!,” he posted on X.

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Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman watched a live telecast of the Ram Temple ceremony in Kanchipuram, and offered prayers at the Varadharaja Perumal Temple. The temple, also known as Hastagiri and Attiyuran, is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Lord Vishnu, that is mentioned in the hymns of the Vaishnava poet saints, the Alvars.

Union minister for civil aviation and steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, also participated in the prayer ceremony at the Hanuman Temple in Madhya Pradesh. “After waiting for centuries, our Ram has arrived today,” he posted on X in Hindi.

Union minister for environment, forests and climate change, Bhupender Yadav, offered prayers in Vrindavan’s Banke Bihari Temple, where the idol of Lord Krishna held a bow and arrow, besides the standard flute, to mark the occasion.