Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Hanumangarhi temple before heading out for the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the Ram temple’s construction on August 5 in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya has a special reason, a priest at the 10th-century shrine has said.

The Prime Minister and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will perform a special puja at Hanumangarhi, a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman, and then go to Ram Janmabhoomi for the bhoomi pujan.

“Without Lord Hanuman, no work of Lord Ram can begin. That is why Modi ji and Yogi ji are coming and will do special pooja at Hanumangarhi temple and then will lay the foundation for the construction of Ram temple at Janmabhoomi Sthal with the blessings of Hanuman ji,” Madhuvan Das, a Hanumangarhi temple, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Das said no work has been done without the blessings of Hanuman, a devotee of Lord Ram, so the first blessing will be sought from him for the smooth construction of the Ram temple.

Mahant Raju Das, the head priest of Hanumangarhi, said they have been allocated seven minutes for Prime Minister’s rituals at the temple, according to ANI.

Vedic priests will escort the Prime Minister while reciting mantras to the Hanumangarhi temple where the ceremony will also include prayers for his wellbeing and to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. The head priest said only four priests are likely to conduct the prayers in the temple.

“We have to follow social distancing, these are the orders we have received from the Prime Minister’s Office. So, following the norms, no one will be allowed to touch the Prime Minister neither will they offer him ‘prasad’,” he said.

The temple town has been decked up ahead of the August 5 ceremony when PM Modi will lay the foundation stone for construction of the Ram temple.

The construction of Ram temple will begin after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone and several dignitaries from the political and religious fields are expected to take part.