Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple here, on a visit meant to reiterate support for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.
"It is everybody's wish that Ram Mandir must be constructed," he said on his first trip to the temple town after the Lok Sabha elections.
Adityanath unveiled a seven-foot Ram statue at a museum in the city and also took part in celebrations to mark the birthday of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
In his address at another event, the BJP leader said the previous governments had maintained distance from Lord Rama and argued that the deity was important for country's identity.
He claimed the original copy of the Constitution included a picture of Lord Ram, in an apparent reference to one of the illustrations in an early manuscript.
He thanked Ayodhya's seers for their blessings that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party get a second term at the Centre.
Adityanath unveiled a seven-foot statue of Kodandrama — which has the deity armed with a bow and arrows — at the Ram Katha Sanghralaya, the state government museum here.
The state's government bought the wooden statue from Karnataka State Arts and Crafts Emporium.
The chief minister also visited the Hanumangarhi temple and inspected a pump house being constructed at the banks of the Saryu river.
Adityanath's trip comes ahead of a planned visit here by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray along with 18 newly elected partly MPs.
The Sena visit to on June 16 is being seen as an attempt to put pressure on the BJP-led government over the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.
The title suit over the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site is being heard by the Supreme Court.
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