The who’s who of India Inc – from Mukesh Ambani to Gautam Adani and Lakshmi N Mittal to Sunil Mittal among others — flew into Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on Monday.
Steel tycoon Lakshmi N MIttal, telecom czar Sunil Mittal, Aditya Birla group chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla and his daughter Ananya Birla, and industrialist Anil Ambani were also in attendance.
Reliance Industries (RIL) CMD Mukesh Ambani, who was among the special invitees for the ‘pran pratishtha’, joined the ceremony with wife Nita and sons Akash and Anant.
Akash, the chairman of RIL’s digital arm Reliance Jio Infocomm, was accompanied by his wife Shloka Mehta, while Anant, a director of Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail Ventures, attended with his fiancée Radhika Merchant. “Lord Ram is arriving today, January 22 will be Ram Diwali for the entire country,” the senior Ambani said. Akash called it a day that “will be written in the pages of history”.
In Mumbai, the family’s 27-storey residence was lit up with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, lamps and decorations. On Friday, RIL had announced a company-wide holiday on Monday. The conglomerate also offered 360-degree virtual tour of the temple on JioTV.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, who was also in attendance, said on X, “On this auspicious day, as the Ayodhya Mandir’s doors open, let it be a gateway to enlightenment and peace, binding the communities with the timeless threads of Bharat’s spiritual and cultural harmony.”
He also announced that the group would sponsor 14 students wanting to do PhD in Indology (academic study of India, its people, culture, languages and literature). Raymond CMD Gautam Singhania described the atmosphere in Ayodhya as electric. “So honoured to be able to witness this divine experience,” he posted on X.
Apart from industry captains, a host of startup founders also sought blessings at the temple town. Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu came in with his mother, Janaki, brother Kumar and sister-in-law Anu. “Amma is a life-long devotee of Lord Shri Ram. Very blessed to be here,” Vembu said on X.
Hailing the “infectious energy” at the ceremony, OyoRooms founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said, “…this is truly a historic moment! Chants and prayers can be heard as devotees stream in.”
For EaseMyTrip co-founder and CEO Nishant Pitti, the day saw the spirit of unity and celebration resonate in the hearts of millions of Indians. “May Lord Ram fill our lives with joy, peace, and prosperity,” he wished in his X post.
Sports personalities such as former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Mithali Raj and tennis player Saina Nehwal were also in Ayodhya for the consecration. As were celebrities from the film world, including Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Ayushmann Khurana and Madhuri Dixit.