Ayodhya: Ten new priests have been included from today for performing rituals at Ram temple in Ayodhya. With this, the total strength of priests serving Ram Lalla has gone to 15, including the chief priest. The addition of new priests was done on the occasion of Paush Krishna Paksha Pratipada.
These priests have been assigned duties in various shifts. Their duty roster will be changed from Krishna Paksha and Shukla Paksha of every month. They will work from Pratipada to Amavasya and then in Shukla Paksha, from Pratipada to Purnima.
A set of rules has been laid down for the priests. For instance, it is mandatory for them to follow the rules of Bhitriya and Bahariya in all circumstances. The on-duty priests will be prohibited from entering the sanctum sanctorum without bathing.
The first shift for worship will start from 4 am and continue to 12.30 pm till the Rajbhog Aarti of the Lord. In this, four priests, including three senior assistants Santosh Tripathi, Pradeep Das and Ashok Upadhyay, apart from a new priest Ashutosh Tripathi have been assigned duty.
Out of the three new priests, two, Rohit Tiwari and Rahul Pandey, will be on duty in the sanctum sanctorum from 4 am to 7 am and outside the sanctum sanctorum from 7 am to 12.30 pm. During their duty outside the sanctum sanctorum, they will perform puja in the Hanuman temple and Kuber mound from 7 am to 8.30 am.
After performing Rajbhog Aarti at 11 am, they will return to Ram temple and be on duty till 12.30 pm. The second shift will be from 12.30 pm to 4.30 pm. It will be resting period from 4.30 to 6 pm.
The next shift will be from 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm. This will be headed by Prem Kumar Tripathi and a new priest Anil Shukla, will accompany him in the sanctum sanctorum.
Two new priests, Ankit Mishra and Shivesh Pandey, will be in the sanctum sanctorum from 4:30 to 10:30 pm and Pradyumna Kumar and Anubhav Tiwari will be on duty outside from 12.30 pm to 10.30 pm. During this period, they will perform puja and shayan aarti at Hanuman temple and Kuber mound between 7.30 am to 8.30 pm. Satya Mishra will be on duty outside the temple from 2.30 pm to 10.30 pm
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