'Hanuman ji himself...': Monkey enters Ram temple sanctum sanctorum

A monkey entered the sanctum sanctorum of the new Ram temple in Ayodhya and left without creating any trouble, a "beautiful incident" shared by the temple Trust on social media.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said security personnel deployed there felt as if Lord Hanuman himself had come for a darshan of Ram Lalla, the child Ram deity consecrated at the temple on Monday.

The temple trust shared the incident, that took place on Tuesday night, on its official 'X' handle.

"A beautiful incident happened in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on Tuesday. At around 5.50 pm, a monkey entered the sanctum sanctorum through the southern gate and reached near the 'Utsav idol'. The security personnel posted outside ran towards the monkey thinking that it might drop the idol on the ground.

"But as soon as the policemen ran towards the monkey, it ran calmly towards the northern gate. Since the gate was closed, it moved towards the east and passed through the crowd of visitors and went out through the eastern gate without causing any trouble to anyone. The security personnel said that for them it is as if Hanuman ji himself had come to see Ram Lalla," the Trust posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The old idol of Ram Lalla, which was earlier kept in a makeshift shrine, is now being referred to as 'Utsav idol'. It has also been placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the new Ram Lalla temple.

Lord Hanuman is regarded as a devout disciple of Lord Ram.

The grand temple was opened to public on Tuesday, a day after the consecration ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.