In Ayodhya, a great historical moment and deeply spiritual event took place as the devotees sang to a huge degree for celebrating Ram Navami. At the Ram Temple in Ayodhya a peculiar phenomenon happened according to you -“Surya Tilak” was witnessed as with sunlight the forehead of Ram Lalla idol looked to you divine.
The event took place exactly at 12 noon -in agreement with the traditional belief that Lord Rama was born on the ninth day (Navami) of the Shukla Paksha in the Chaitra month, as described in the Valmiki Ramayana.
What was most impressive about the moment was the precision in the thinking behind it. The temple consists of an opto-mechanical system to send sunlight to the sanctum sanctorum through an open-up and closed-path. This system was developed together with scientists working at the Indian Institute of Technology and at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics through an idea, a concept called the Indian Institute of Astrophysics theory.
With an appropriate set of mirrors and lenses positioned along the Shikhara (top of the temple) the sun flows into the inner sanctum at the proper angle. A beam of light now forms a 58mm tilak on the forehead of the Ram Lalla idol at noon.
All 51 inches tall, the idol comes from black stone and has been sculpted by renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj from Karnataka. Its craftsmanship has won him an immense acclaim for a large museum the temple is well known for.
This phenomenon is not a one-time phenomenon. It was created so that Surya Tilak will come every year to the temple on Ram Navami in the spirit of harmony between ancient and contemporary belief systems.
Devotees and visitors described an incredible moment as moving and divine, many describing it as a life-for-every-time experience. Videos and photos of the event have flown off Twitter and social media - drawing on the experience abroad and all the world.
The Surya Tilak is testament to India’s rich cultural landscape with tradition and technology coming together to create something remarkable. So Ayodhya is a source of patriotism and it is still the source and the heart of spiritual faith, even still our spirit. ‘
