Faithful throng Ram temple site
nAYODHYA:A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the “bhoomi pujan” ceremony for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, devout Hindus thronged the site on Thursday to worship an idol of Ram Lalla, the infant god, housed in a prefabricated structure.
Devotees also visited the Hanuman Garhi temple, where Modi offered prayers on Wednesday. The shrine is located just a few metres from Ram Janmabhoomi, or birthplace of Ram, where the temple is being built by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust formed to oversee the construction.
The grand “bhoomi pujan” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the ceremony were the talk of the town on Thursday. Modi offered prayers to the infant deity at the makeshift temple, performed a circumambulation and planted a sapling on the site before the groundbreaking in which a 40 kg silver brick donated by temple trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was used.
“I saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing bhoomi pujan on television. It was a grand ceremony. Some changes might have been made at Ram Janmabhoomi. Out of curiosity I am here today to see those changes,” said Diwakar Maurya, 51, who travelled to Ayodhya from adjoining Gonda.
Saket Kureel, 55, from neighbouring Basti district, wanted to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla at the temple in which PM Modi prayed to the deity. When Kureel last visited Ayodhya, the deity’s idol was in a tent from where it was shifted to the prefab structure on March25in aceremonypresided over by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“I want to see the temple where Ram Lalla is residing at present. I saw PM Modi performing the deity’s arti on Doordarshan,” said Kureel.
Next to Hanuman Garhi temple, a group of devotees from adjoining Gonda district was spotted. After paying obeisance to Lord Hanuman, the group wanted to visit the temple site.
“Yesterday we watched Modiji on Doordarshan performing bhoomi pujan. My family and relatives wanted to visit Ram Janmabhoomi today itself,” said Radhey Shyam Varma, in his 50s.
In Faizabad, (locals still use this name to differentiate between old Ayodhya and Faizabad for their convenience), it was business as usual and life was back to normal.
Chief minister Adityanath renamed Faizabad district Ayodhya in November 2018. Moving from Faizabad towards Ayodhya, one can still see the decorations on the roadside with big hoardings put up by local MLAS and BJP MP Lallu Singh.