Science behind Surya Tilak of Ram Lalla

The forehead of Ram Lalla’s idol was anointed with a ray of sunlight, known as ‘Surya Tilak’, on the occasion of Ram Navami, at Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, in Ayodhya.

Lucknow: Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, an autonomous body under the department of Science and Technology, has played a crucial role in the SuryaTilak project in Ayodhya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched live the ‘Surya Abhishek’ on Ram Lalla on iPad.

In a series of posts of X, Abhay Karandikar, secretary of the department of Science and Technology, government of India, informed how scientists of IIA, Bengaluru, informed how the ‘Surya Tilak’ (Surya Abhishek) project was executed on Ram Navami in Ayodhya.

Karandikar is former director of IIT, Kanpur.

“Sunlight was directed onto the forehead of Sri Ram Lalla at 12 noon on April 17, 2024, on the occasion of Sri #RamNavami in the Chaitra month, and this ritual will be repeated every year,” posted Karandikar on X.

In the series of posts on X, Karandikar explained how the project was executed by a team of IIA, Bengaluru and experts of the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee.

The team led by IIA, Bengaluru, carried out calculations of the Sun’s position, designed and optimized the optical system, and performed the integration and alignment at the site, informed Karandikar.

“As the temple is not fully completed now, the IIA experts modified the design to suit the existing structure and performed image optimization. This design, with four mirrors and two lenses, was executed for the Surya Tilak,” added Karandikar.

“The final design of the Surya Tilak, with four mirrors and four lenses, will be implemented once the full temple is constructed by placing the mirrors and lenses in their permanent fixtures,” informed Karandikar.

“The English calendar date of Sri Ram Navami festival changes every year as it follows the Lunar Calendar. Therefore, the position of the sun on the sky changes every year on the day of Sri Ram Navami,” said Karandikar.

“Detailed calculations show that the English calendar date of Sri Ram Navami repeats every 19 years. Calculating the position of the sun in the sky on these days requires expertise in astronomy,” he added.

The team led the estimation of the size, shape and location of mirrors and lenses in the system for sufficient light to fall on the idol for about six minutes.

“Opto-mechanical design of the lens and mirror holder assembly, and manual mechanism were carried out to shift the position of the first mirror according to the position of the Sun in the sky,” informed Karandikar.

This helped the entire system to work flawlessly for the Surya Tilak to be carried out successfully. The device has been manufactured by Optica, Bangalore, and the implementation of the opto-mechanical system at the site is being done by the CBRI, Roorke, Karandikar posted on X.

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