A new idol of Lord Hanuman has been installed at the makeshift Ram Janmabhoomi temple site here.

The old idol was damaged but could not be replaced till now due to the Supreme Court directive for maintaining ''status quo'' owing to the pending case on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

"Worshipping a damaged statue is prohibited in Hindu religion, but there was nothing we could do about it. When the idol of Ram Lalla was shifted to the new temple last month, I informed the temple trust members.

The old idol has been immersed in the Saryu river and the pran pratishtha of the new one has been done," said temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das.

Meanwhile, a makeshift tent that housed the idol of Ram Lalla at the Ram Janmabhoomi site has been removed. Ground-levelling work will begin as soon as the lockdown is lifted.

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