Suryatilak being attempted on first Ram Navami to greet Ram lalla

Lucknow/Ayodhya: Lucky devotees of lord Ram could get a chance to witness the first Suryatilak of Ram lalla on this Ram Navami. Experts from Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) are camping in Ayodhya to lay down the optomechanical system on the ground floor of the Ram temple in collaboration with scientists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics. The Suryavanshi king of Ayodhya as a birthday present is expected to be gifted with Suryatilak at 12pm of April 17, a phenomenon through which sunrays would be captured and diverted via series of optical apparatus.

While original plan of the Ram temple trust was to initiate the process upon completion of the temple building, upon requests of saints and seers, scientists from CBRI volunteered to make the arrangements for Suryatilak on the first Ram Navami itself which the lord is going to celebrate in the newly constructed temple complex.

Sunbeams would be guided with utmost precision to illuminate the forehead of the lord exactly at 12pm on Ram Navami. To greet the lord on the special day, the rays would shine on the forehead of Ram lalla for the next four minutes in a circular form spanning 75 millimetre.

Temple trust member Anil Mishra said that team of scientists and experts have been working on the project from Sunday night. After measuring the distance between the forehead of the lord and the ground of the sanctum sanctorum, the scientists placed stickers strategically at points where mirrors and apparatus would be placed.

Experiments would be conducted over the next few days to identify the best spots for the devices that would be used to reflect the beams. “The weather needs to be clear at that time. That is the only requirement to produce desired results,” said a volunteer deputed by the trust.

As date of Ram Navami changes every year the astrophysicists studied the lunar calendar. The lunar phases recur after every 19 years and those calendar dates were noted down to study the position of the stars in the sky on the said dates. Optomechacnical system was developed to place mirrors and lenses in a strategic manner along with pipes and related components.

A private company from Bengaluru has prepared the components and is assisting in the installation of the system so that Surytilak gets organised every year on Ram Navami. While the majority of the apparatus is going to be fabricated and fixed in the building, some mirrors would have to be placed manually to facilitate Suryatilak year after year. Mishra added that the final position would be known after trials get over.

Having studied the angular position of the sun over Ayodhya’s horizon over the decades on and around Ram Navami calendar dates, the mechanism was designed to direct the sunlight manually towards the deity. No electronic system or battery has been used to create the system.