UP: More than 2.5 lakh devotees offer prayers at Ayodhya's Ram Temple; administration monitoring situation
Jan 23, 2024
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 23 : Around 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh devotees have offered prayers to Ram Lalla in Ayodhya's Ram Temple on Tuesday and a similar number of devotees are awaiting the darshan, state government officials said.
With the influx of a large number of devotees to Ayodhya's Ram Temple, senior officials of the Uttar Pradesh government were present inside the temple premises to monitor the orderly movement of devotees.
Uttar Pradesh Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar and Principal Secretary (Home) were present inside the 'Garbha Griha' to monitor the situation.
The Ram Temple was thrown open to the general public on Tuesday after the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony was performed on January 22.
According to officials, more than 8,000 security personnel are present to control the situation.
Since early morning, devotees have arrived at the temple to offer prayers.
"We are very pleased. We are touched even more to come to terms with the fact that we are going to have 'darshan' of the Ram Lalla," said Tejender Singh, a devotee from Chandigarh.
On the huge crowd gathered at the gates of the temple, he said, "Lakhs of people will have the darshan of Lord Ram. So it is bound to be crowded."
Another devotee said that he had come all the way from Odisha to have the darshan of Lord Ram at Ayodhya.
"I have come from Odisha's Puri to Ayodhya on bike to have darshan of Lord Ram Lalla. It was a journey of 1224 kilometres. I was very eager to have the 'darshan' of Lord Ram Lalla. When I was asked on my way where I was going, I said that I was going to have darshan of Lord Ram at the temple, which was not built for over 500 years," he said.
The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla in Ayodhya was held amid unbridled celebrations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing the main rituals officiated by a select complement of priests. Celebrations were also held across the country to mark Lord Ram's return to this throne.
