After five days of the consecration of Ram Lalla, devotees are flocking to Ayodhya’s Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple to catch a glimpse of Ram Lalla. Ayodhya witnessed a slight foggy morning today. Despite the cold, the procession of devotees making their way here continues.
The administration is ensuring that devotees can have darshan of Ram Lalla in an organized manner. From the inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22nd until now, the number of devotees coming for Ram Lalla’s darshan hasn’t decreased. There’s a huge crowd of devotees outside the temple.
Meanwhile, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has modified the timing of darshan and aarti of Lord Ram, considering the heavy influx of devotees, to ensure more devotees can easily have darshan of the Lord.
According to Sharad Sharma, the media coordinator of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Mangala Aarti of Ram Lalla will be at 4:30 AM, and the Shringar Aarti (Uththan Aarti) will be at 6:00 AM. After this, darshan for devotees will start at 7:00 AM.
He explained that the Bhog Aarti will be at 12:00 PM, the Sandhya Aarti at 5:30 PM, and the night Bhog at 9:00 PM. The Shayan Aarti of the Lord will be at 10:00 PM. The Trust is continuously making changes to make darshan easier for people. Earlier, the number of entry gates to the temple was increased from two to six.
Meanwhile, IG Praveen Kumar of the Ayodhya zone said, “There is a heavy influx of people here. Yesterday, more than three lakh people had darshan. We are ensuring all arrangements. The administration has made all necessary arrangements too.”
On the full moon day of Paush month, around 2.5 million devotees thronged Ayodhya to take a dip in the holy Sarayu river and visit temples and ashrams. Paush Purnima marks the end of the waxing phase of the moon in the Paush month. This year, Paush Purnima was celebrated on Thursday. By bathing and donating in holy rivers on Paush Purnima, one attains virtue. All troubles and faults are eradicated. Goddess Lakshmi’s blessings are received. This year, Paush Purnima coincided with seven such auspicious yoga combinations.
In these auspicious combinations, devotees flocked to Sarayu for a bath. Cheers echoed on the banks of the Sarayu from early morning. Despite intense cold waves and biting cold, devotees continued to take dips in the Sarayu in the name of Lord Rama. After bathing and donating in the Sarayu, devotees set out to visit the Ram Janmabhoomi and Hanumangarhi. The newly built palace with the image of young Lord Ram was the most sought-after destination for devotees. Ramnagari resounded with the chanting of Ram’s name throughout the day.
Dancing to the tunes of bhajans, devotees made their way from the banks of the Sarayu towards the Ram temple. Devotees from Patna, Bihar, expressed their awe upon reaching Ayodhya. Meanwhile, around 150 devotees from Nagpur reached Ayodhya, playing drums. These devotees also marked their presence in Ram Lalla’s court.
Close to eight thousand devotees participated in the Nepali Baba’s Yagya and on Thursday, they bowed their heads in front of Ram Lalla. A large number of Nepali devotees were also present. Somanath Thapa, who came from Nepal, said that he had been in Ayodhya for the past 10 days. He was fortunate to participate in the Ramnam Mahayagya first and now feels blessed to have had darshan of Ram Lalla.
