Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the public not to visit Ayodhya on January 22 for inauguration of the Ram Temple. “As bhakts, we would not like to cause any problems to Lord Ram. You all can come starting January 23 till eternity… Ram Mandir is now there forever and ever,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister also asked every Indian to light a diya in their house on January 22.

Earlier today, PM Modi inaugurated a new airport and a redeveloped railway station in Ayodhya.

The much-awaited inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is expected to be a grand affair on January 22 and devotees from across the country have already begun visiting the site to witness the construction of the temple complex.

NDTV visited Ayodhya this week and found that construction activities are in full swing on the first phase of the Ram Temple, which is expected to be completed in a few days. Decoration work will begin after that.

The site is dotted with mounds of Makrana Marble brought from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district and stone from other places that are being used in the construction of the grand temple.

Nearly 8,000 dignitaries have been invited to attend the consecration ceremony on January 22 and 15% of the people working at the site will also get invites.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the house of a woman who is the tenth-crore beneficiary the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya today.

PM Modi was offered tea at the home of the beneficiary of the flagship scheme that provides clean cooking fuel such as LPG cylinders to rural and deprived households, which otherwise had been using firewood, coal, and cow-dung cakes.

Using traditional cooking fuels had detrimental impacts on the health of rural women as well as on the environment.

A large crowd greeted PM Modi as he walked on the narrow streets of Ayodhya. The Prime Minister also signed on a painting that a boy showed him.

Earlier today, PM Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Ayodhya railway station and flagged off two Amrit Bharat and six Vande Bharat trains, some virtually.

He will also inaugurate an airport and lay the foundation stones for development projects in UP.

After inaugurating the railway station, PM Modi took a tour of the facility. He was accompanied by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, among others.

The Phase-I of the redeveloped station — Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station — has been completed at a cost of more than Rs 240 crore, officials said.

The three-storey railway station building is equipped with features such as lifts, escalators, food plazas, shops for puja needs, cloak rooms, child care rooms, waiting halls.

This visit by the Prime Minister comes ahead of the ‘pran pratishtha’ or consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. It is currently under construction, with the consecration ceremony to be held on January 22.

A gunfight broke out between suspected insurgents and police commandos in Manipur’s border town Moreh today. The insurgents allegedly fired at a convoy of police vehicles while they were moving towards a patrolling point from Moreh town, news agency PTI reported.

A commando was injured. He is being treated at an Assam Rifles camp.

The fresh violence in Moreh also led to the burning of two homes, local reports said.

In a separate incident, a teen was shot dead by unidentified men in Manipur’s hill district Kangpokpi, 45 km from the state capital Imphal. The incident happened at 2.30 am on Saturday.

More security forces have been deployed in the village and combing operations are going on, sources said.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh condemned the killing of the youth.

“A few evil elements are trying to disrupt the peace in the state. It’s an unfortunate incident and we highly condemned the incident. Combing operation is on to nab the culprits. We won’t spare the culprits,” Mr Singh told reporters today.

“Many civil society groups are trying hard to restore peace in the state. This fresh incident is highly condemnable. Let us hold dialogue and resolve issues peacefully,” he added.