Devotees offer prayers at Ayodhya temple
Tens of hundreds of devotees from across the country, who have been waiting for a glimpse of the Lord Ram idol in Ayodhya, broke through the security cordon on several occasions as the Ram temple was opened for the general public after the grand consecration ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Devotees standing outside the Ram Mandir gates from early morning, carrying flags of Lord Ram and chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ gave security personnel deployed to control the crowd a tough time. At least four devotees fainted as the people forced their way towards the temple.
The Uttar Pradesh Government said roughly three lakh devotees offered prayers to Ram Lalla in the Ram Temple on Tuesday, and many were waiting outside the temple for the darshan.
“I waited for seven hours to offer my prayers to Lord Ram. It is a moment to cherish for a lifetime. The security arrangements were good, but it could have been better if the administration had restricted the movement of outsiders in Ayodhya,” said Umakant Mishra, a local.
Amid the influx of devotees, senior State officials, including Special DG (Law and Order), Prashant Kumar and Principal Secretary (Home) were present inside the sanctum sanctorum to manage the crowd. Uttar Pradesh deployed more than 11,000 police personnel to control the situation.
The atmosphere inside the sanctum sanctorum is electrifying. I haven’t seen such a scene in my lifetime,” said Prabhakar Upadhyay, a devotee from Sitapur. People from other States also reached Ayodhya to glimpse the Lord Ram on Day 1. BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda’s scheduled visit to Ayodhya on January 24 has been postponed, and no prominent BJP leader will be visiting Ayodhya in the coming few days.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey of the temple and directed officials to take all necessary measures to control the crowd.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya appealed to devotees to maintain discipline while offering prayers inside the temple premises.
“There is a huge crowd of Ram devotees in Ayodhya Dham. I appeal to everyone to have darshan with complete discipline,” said Mr. Maurya.