Gem-studded clothes with gold threadwork

AYODHYA:FOR the past three-anda-half-decades, brothers Shankarlal and Bhagwatlal ‘Pahaadhi’ have been stitching clothes for Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. Their dedication will be manifest in the splendid dress they have meticulously crafted for the deity to wear on August 5, during the bhoomi pujan ceremony of the Ram temple.

Operating from their shop named after their late father Babulal and located in the city’s Badhi Kutiyaa area, the brothers stitch clothes for only deities and seers.

“My father late Babulal started stitching the clothes of Ram Lalla in 1985. He used to carry our sewing machine to the Ramjanmabhoomi and stitch the clothes with me and my elder brother in tow,” Shankarlal, 54, told PTI on Monday. “The dresses were made and stitched virtually in front of the deity. Since then, our work is continuing,” he said.

Shankarlal said that for Wednesday, the day of bhoomi pujan to mark the beginning of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, two sets of dresses have been made -- one is green, while the other is orange.

“The clothes are made using soft material such as ‘makhmal’ (velvet). After all, they are for Ram Lalla who is a child. The green dress has been made keeping in mind the day-specific colour, while orange is considered auspicious,” he said. On Wednesday, the green dress will be worn first and the orange one later, Shankarlal said.

The special dress for the ceremony has nine gems stitched in golden thread. “There is grandeur in the clothes of the Lord as well,” he said.

On Sunday, the dresses were handed over by the tailors, said Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple.

“A day-specific colour scheme is followed for the dresses worn by Lord Ram. On Monday the dress is white, on Tuesday it is red, while on Wednesday it is the turn of the green dress for the Lord,” Shankarlal said.

“I feel overwhelmed that I was born in Ayodhya and got an opportunity to serve Ram Lalla. What could give more happiness than this?” he asked.