Laxmikant Dixit, Chief Priest who led Pran-Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram Temple, passes away

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 22 (ANI): Laxmikant Dixit, the chief priest who had performed the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, passed away on Saturday in Varanasi.
Acharya Satyendra Das Ji Maharaj, the Chief Priest of Ram Temple, expressed his condolences and said, "The passing away of Laxmikant Dixit is very painful. He was a great scholar who led the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. And now, such a great scholar is no longer among us. He was very humble and he was a person with simple thoughts."

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) media in-charge Sharad Sharma called the demise of Pandit Laxmikant Dixit a national loss and said, "Pandit Laxmikant Dixit, who performed the consecration of Ram Lalla was soft-spoken and the demise of such a great sage who enlivened religious, social and Vedic traditions is sad and shocking. He died in Varanasi."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the death of Acharya Laxmikant Dixit.
In a post on X, he said, "I received the sad news of the demise of the country's eminent scholar and Yajurveda teacher of Sangveda Vidyalaya, Laxmikant Dixit ji. Dixit ji was a renowned man of the scholarly tradition of Kashi. I got his company on the inauguration day of Kashi Vishwanath Dham and Ram Temple. His demise is an irreparable loss for society."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth also took to his official X handle and expressed his condolences. He said, "The demise of Vedmurti, Acharya Shri Laxmikant Dixit, the great scholar of Kashi and the chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Pran Pratishtha, is an irreparable loss to the world of spirituality and literature."
He added further, "He will always be remembered for his service to Sanskrit language and Indian culture. It is a prayer to Lord Shri Ram to grant the departed saint a place at his feet and his disciples and followers the strength to bear this sorrow."
The 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of Lord Ram was held on January 22, with the main rituals performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The idol of Ram Lalla was unveiled after the rituals. (ANI)