Washington: A car rally was organized by the Hindu American community on Saturday in a suburb of Washington to mark the upcoming consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India. The organizers said that the rally was part of a month-long series of events to celebrate the historic occasion, which is scheduled for next year.
The rally started at the Shri Bhakta Anjaneya Temple on ‘Ayodhya Way’ near ‘Frederick City Maryland’, where the community members gathered on Saturday afternoon. They displayed banners and flags with the images of Lord Ram and the temple, and chanted slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
Mahendra Sapa, president of ‘The Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America DC’ unit, said, “We are overjoyed that after 500 years of struggle, the idol of Lord Shri Ram will be installed in his temple next year. We are holding a grand celebration in Washington on January 1, where about 1,000 Hindu American families will participate. We will have Ram Leela, storytelling, worship, and hymns for Lord Shri Ram and his family.”
He added, “In this festival, people of different age groups will present the life of Lord Shri Ram in a 45-minute show, which will be easy for American-born children to understand.” Co-organizer and a local Tamil Hindu leader Premkumar Swaminathan praised Lord Sri Rama in Tamil language and invited all the families to the festival, which will be held on January 20 in the US.
