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‘Surya Tilak’ illuminates Ram Lalla idol’s forehead at

Ayodhya Temple on Ram Navami

'Surya Tilak' (Sun’s rays) illuminated Lord Ram Lalla idol's forehead
at Ayodhya Temple on the occasion of Ram Navami on
Wednesday, April 17. The ' Surya tilak' of the deity was made
possible by an elaborate mechanism involving mirrors and lenses.
The system was tested by the scientists on Tuesday.
This was the first Ram Navami since the consecration of the Ram
idol at the Ayodhya temple, inaugurated by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on January 22.
According to a senior scientist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Building
Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, the planned tilak size was 58 mm. The exact period of tilak on the
forehead centre was about three to three-and-a-half minutes, with two minutes of full illumination, he said.

How technology helped Ram Lalla’s Surya Tilak at

Ayodhya Ram Mandir

This was achieved using a special mirror-lens arrangement, designed by astronomers at the Indian
Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, that has been installed in the building by a team from the Central
Building Research Institute, Roorkee.
Step 1: Predict the Sun’s position (each year)
When following the Gregorian calendar, the date of Ram Navami (the Hindu festival celebrating the birth of
Lord Ram) varies each year. This is because the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar (based on Earth’s
revolution around the Sun — one revolution equals to one year), while the Hindu calendar is a lunar
calendar (based on the Moon’s revolution around Earth — one revolution equals to one month).
A solar year has roughly 365 days, whereas a lunar year is roughly 354 days long.
Step 2: To channelise the Sun’s rays
After astronomers estimated where the Sun will be in the sky, their second task was to channelise the
sunbeam “in a manner that it will fall on the idol’s forehead for a certain amount of time,” Subramaniam said.
The IIA team, which began designing the apparatus three years ago, proposed a four-mirror-and-four-lens
array for this purpose. “The first mirror, responsible for receiving the sunlight, has to be positioned at an
angle along the path of the sun rays,” she explained.
The light will then be reflected to three other mirrors, and will pass through four lenses until it is of the desired
intensity, and will be directed to the idol’s forehead. The mirrors directed the beams while the lenses made
them converge to the required intensity.