Ayodhya from Shillong
in March 2027

The Surya Tilak is a remarkable engineering achievement built into the Ram Mandir design. At exactly 12:00 noon on Ram Navami (the moment of Lord Ram's birth according to tradition), mirrors and lenses integrated into the temple structure direct sunlight from outside the building onto the forehead (tilak position) of the Ram Lalla deity — a symbolic solar abhishek. The engineering was designed by scientists from IIT and CBRI and required precise celestial calculations. It occurs naturally without any electricity. This ceremony, visible only to those in the sanctum, is one of the most discussed design elements of the new temple.

Ram Navami 2024 (the first Ram Navami after the Ram Mandir consecration) saw approximately 5 million pilgrims in a 10-day window according to UP government estimates. The 2025 and 2026 figures were similar. All pilgrimage infrastructure — Ram Path, ghat seating, medical camps, and police deployment — is designed around this peak. For Junegiri Yatra package visitors, we coordinate arrivals 2–3 days before the main Ram Navami day, allowing comfortable darshan access and departure before the peak day crowd.

Yes — Ayodhya celebrates Holi with a unique Ram-centric devotional character. The main celebration is at Kanak Bhawan temple, where Ram and Sita idols are adorned in coloured clothes and priests apply colour in a ceremonial Holi puja before the public celebrations begin. Holi in Ayodhya is more subdued than the exuberant Braj Holi — it has a devotional rather than purely festive character. Many pilgrims who miss Mathura-Vrindavan Holi combine Ayodhya and Holi in the same March trip as a complete Vaishnava pilgrimage.