AYODHYA: A mini India is on the move in the streets of Ayodhya on Saturday, two days before the city hosts the consecration ceremony at the newly constructed Ram temple. Thousands of devotees from across the country are in the city to be a part of Ramotsav that is going on since January 14 in the run-up to the ceremony on Jan 22.
Although the state government and the Temple Trust are advising the devotees to plan their trip after the ceremony, hundreds are still reaching – some of them cycling, skating or even walking – in the hope that they would be allowed to stay in the holy town on the D-Day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will land at 10.30 am on Monday and will remain in the city for over five hours to be the main yajman at the pran pratishtha ceremony. The consecration rituals will begin at 12.20 am. The final ritual of pran pratishtha will be conducted in ‘mool muhurt’ between 12:29:08 pm and 12:30:32 pm, within a period of just 84 seconds, in the presence of the PM. Thereafter, Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CM Yogi Adityanath will address a public meeting at 1.15 pm. Over 7,000 special guests from across the country will take part in the event. On Saturday morning, a briefing of police and security personnel deputed in the city was held at Reserve Police Lines.
‘I wanted to live vlog on way to temple’
The administration has made it clear that only those with valid invites or passes will be allowed to enter the city.
But that has not deterred the die-hard devotees. As entry in the city was allowed till Saturday evening, a large number of them took buses and their own vehicles to reach Ayodhya to register their devotion for the lord.
Gaurav Tyagi, 31, from Asodha village in Hapur, started his journey on January 4. Bound to a wheelchair, Tyagi reached Janmabhoomi Path on Saturday afternoon and bowed before the Ram Lalla from a distance before heading towards a local ashram. To cover a distance of about 600 km from the national capital region to Awadh, Tyagi with assistance of two cousins covered 50-60 km every day dragging the wheelchair. The cousins are carrying mattresses, camps, quilts and other essential items in a motor vehicle.
“I was welcomed as a hero by multiple groups on the way. I lost sensation in the left limb as a result of a road accident which took place 16 years ago. But I exercise regularly and am physically active. I am a devotee of both Lord Ram and Krishna and just wanted to be present in Ayodhya on Jan 22,” said Tyagi wheeling away in front of Birla Dharamshala amid the crowd. Barely 300 metres away, two sadhus, Krishna Maharaj and Valmiki Maharaj, who had arrived in the city in the afternoon from Sangli, Maharashtra, were walking quietly towards Karsevak Puram. Krishna Maharaj, also known as Mauni Baba as he has taken a vow to remain silent for the past 20 years, is among the invitees and Valmiki came along to provide assistance to his senior in the train journey to Lucknow and bus ride to Ayodhya. “Mauni Baba has been requested to be present on Jan 22 in the temple. But as he cannot speak, I am accompanying him,” said Krishna Maharaj. Similarly, youths from Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh keep coming in groups.
Anmol Kothari, 22-year-old from Bikaner, mounted on a sporty bicycle on the Bhakti Path, seemed a little disappointed. “I wanted to live vlog on the way. But my mother gave permission to leave the house only after I promised I would not create videos while riding the bicycle. She feels social media could distract me and something wrong could happen. My father is a private employee and gave me cash and loaded money in the mobile wallet before I left. I spent only about Rs 8,000 so far in a fortnight,” said Kothari.
While everybody has different stories and experiences to share, they are bound by a common factor – to be present in Ayodhya on Jan 22 to welcome and seek blessings of Ram Lalla.
Although the state government and the Temple Trust are advising the devotees to plan their trip after the ceremony, hundreds are still reaching – some of them cycling, skating or even walking – in the hope that they would be allowed to stay in the holy town on the D-Day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will land at 10.30 am on Monday and will remain in the city for over five hours to be the main yajman at the pran pratishtha ceremony. The consecration rituals will begin at 12.20 am. The final ritual of pran pratishtha will be conducted in ‘mool muhurt’ between 12:29:08 pm and 12:30:32 pm, within a period of just 84 seconds, in the presence of the PM. Thereafter, Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CM Yogi Adityanath will address a public meeting at 1.15 pm. Over 7,000 special guests from across the country will take part in the event. On Saturday morning, a briefing of police and security personnel deputed in the city was held at Reserve Police Lines.
‘I wanted to live vlog on way to temple’
The administration has made it clear that only those with valid invites or passes will be allowed to enter the city.
But that has not deterred the die-hard devotees. As entry in the city was allowed till Saturday evening, a large number of them took buses and their own vehicles to reach Ayodhya to register their devotion for the lord.
Gaurav Tyagi, 31, from Asodha village in Hapur, started his journey on January 4. Bound to a wheelchair, Tyagi reached Janmabhoomi Path on Saturday afternoon and bowed before the Ram Lalla from a distance before heading towards a local ashram. To cover a distance of about 600 km from the national capital region to Awadh, Tyagi with assistance of two cousins covered 50-60 km every day dragging the wheelchair. The cousins are carrying mattresses, camps, quilts and other essential items in a motor vehicle.
“I was welcomed as a hero by multiple groups on the way. I lost sensation in the left limb as a result of a road accident which took place 16 years ago. But I exercise regularly and am physically active. I am a devotee of both Lord Ram and Krishna and just wanted to be present in Ayodhya on Jan 22,” said Tyagi wheeling away in front of Birla Dharamshala amid the crowd. Barely 300 metres away, two sadhus, Krishna Maharaj and Valmiki Maharaj, who had arrived in the city in the afternoon from Sangli, Maharashtra, were walking quietly towards Karsevak Puram. Krishna Maharaj, also known as Mauni Baba as he has taken a vow to remain silent for the past 20 years, is among the invitees and Valmiki came along to provide assistance to his senior in the train journey to Lucknow and bus ride to Ayodhya. “Mauni Baba has been requested to be present on Jan 22 in the temple. But as he cannot speak, I am accompanying him,” said Krishna Maharaj. Similarly, youths from Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh keep coming in groups.
Anmol Kothari, 22-year-old from Bikaner, mounted on a sporty bicycle on the Bhakti Path, seemed a little disappointed. “I wanted to live vlog on the way. But my mother gave permission to leave the house only after I promised I would not create videos while riding the bicycle. She feels social media could distract me and something wrong could happen. My father is a private employee and gave me cash and loaded money in the mobile wallet before I left. I spent only about Rs 8,000 so far in a fortnight,” said Kothari.
While everybody has different stories and experiences to share, they are bound by a common factor – to be present in Ayodhya on Jan 22 to welcome and seek blessings of Ram Lalla.