'When our Ram returns home', says PM claiming this yr's Diwali as historic

This Diwali will be historic as after a 500- year-wait thousands of lamps will be lit in the temple built on the birthplace of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on the festival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

Modi said it would be a Diwali "when our Ram returns home" and this time the wait is over not after 14 years but after 500 years.

The prime minister made the remarks after launching development projects worth nearly Rs 12,850 crore and extending his government's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above.

An idol of Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple in January this year, a landmark event led by Prime Minister Modi who had also given a clarion call to go beyond the grand temple's construction to build the foundation of a "strong, capable and divine" India of the next 1,000 years.

Lakhs of people had watched the consecration ceremony on television in their homes and neighbourhood temples, savouring the historic moment.