Who is Pandit Laxmikant Dixit Performing Pran Pratishtha Rituals at Ayodhya's Ram Mandir

Ayodhya: Acharya Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit will be leading the team of 121 vedic scholars for the pran pratishtha ceremony of Ayodhya’s Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir on Monday January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the main ‘yajman’ for the pran pratishtha rituals of Ram Lalla. The Prime Minister has been observing an 11-day anusthan for the same. 

Days before the main Pran Pratishtha puja on the day of the Ram Mandir inauguration, a 'Mahapujan' was carried out starting from January 16. Pandit Laxmikant Dixit led the Mahapujan. 

Who is Acharya Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit?

Acharya Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit is an 86-year-old Vedic Karma Kanda (rituals) scholar, who specialises in Srauta, Smarta, Yajna, and consecration, among other rituals.

According to information on the scholar, Pandit Laxmikant Dixit belongs to the lineage of ‘Shivaji’ scholars. Pandit Gaga Bhatt, a 17th-century scholar from Kashi, is the ancestor of Acharya Dixit. Pandit Gaga Bhatt is said to have performed the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1674 as head of Hindavi Swarajya or the independent Maratha state.

Acharya Laxmikant Dixit and Gaga Bhatt’s ancestors were Brahmins who originally hailed from a village near Paithan, Maharashtra and had migrated to Varanasi.

Pandit Dixit will now be leading the team of Vedic scholars and ritualists performing the Pran Pratishtha and all the other pujas leading to the Ram Mandir inauguration.

“It is the blessings given to me by the legendary saints and seers that Kashi and I have been assigned the responsibility of supervising the consecration of Ram Lalla. I will be performing my duties with the blessings of Lord Ram,” Acharya Dixit said in an interview with a national daily.

(With agency inputs)