The topic of Uttar Pradesh’s tableau for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26 this year will be the now-famous Deepotsav of Ayodhya.
Ayodhya will serve as the state’s theme at the procession for the second time in three years.
“Our Ayodhya tableau of 2021, which was focused on the future Ram temple, and a tableau of 2022, which featured the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi, had aroused an unusual response from many of the viewers when they rose up and bowed to the tableau,” a state government spokesman said. He claimed that for the last two years, the Uttar Pradesh tableaus, with the themes of Ayodhya in 2021 and Kashi Corridor in 2022 had consistently won first place.
According to the spokesman, “a giant statue of sage Vashishtha, the family guru of Lord Ram, would be put on the front half of the tableau along with a large replica of a lamp, symbolizing the cessation of ignorance and the dissemination of the light of knowledge.”
Sage Vashishtha is portrayed as the representative of Indian tradition and culture. The city of Ayodhya is depicted in the centre of the tableau all decorated to greet Lord Ram as he arrives on the occasion of Deepotsav. Bharat, the younger brother of Lord Ram, is seated with other family members.
The rear half of the tableau depicts Lord Ram riding the Pushpak Viman to Ayodhya with Sita, their brother Laxman, and his army.
As Ram, Laxman, and Sita returned to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile, the joy and festivity that marked the occasion would also be shown.
The Deepotsav, which has been held at Ram ki Paidi, Saryu Ghat, every year for the past six years, will be portrayed on both sides of the tableau.
Ayodhya Deepotsav 2022 set a new Guinness World Record for lighting over 15 lakh earthen lamps on the banks of the Saryu as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the celebrations on Diwali eve.