An unmanageable amount of crowd descended upon the newly opened Ayodhya Ram Temple complex on its first day, prompting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to urge people to cooperate with officials and maintain patience to allow everyone a chance to have a darshan of the deity.
According to officials, a whopping five lakh people visited the Ram temple complex on Tuesday, a day after the 'Pran Pratishtha' or consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla idol that was attended by hundreds of guests.
While entry to the temple complex began at 6 am on Tuesday, crowd had started queueing up from the wee hours and swelled by the hour. The massive crowd was seen breaking through the security setup at the entry as well.
Ram Path -- the main thoroughfare -- was choked as devotees flooded the streets of the temple town.
Ayodhya Ram Temple | Top Updates
Ram Mandir Sees 5 Lakh Visitors On Day 1: The total footfall at the temple complex on day one was around 5 lakh, according to the Director of Information (Uttar Pradesh government), Shishir. Till 8.30 pm, about 4 lakh people likely visited the temple, Ayodhya Divisional Commissioner Gaurav Dayal told new agency PTI, adding that the figure stood at around 2.5 lakh at 2 pm.
The last entry of visitors was at 10 pm.
Devotees were seen gathering in huge numbers since the early hours of Wednesday as week to have darshan of Ram Lalla. IG Range Ayodhya, Praveen Kumar, appealed to senior citizens and the specially abled to schedule their visit after two weeks. "The crowd is nonstop but preparations are complete... We appeal to the old and Divyang people to schedule their visit after two weeks..."
UP CM Yogi Makes An Appeal: As the crowd began to swell to an unmanageable extent at the Ram temple complex, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial inspection of the temple site and the city.
Yogi Adityanath, in a post on X later, said, "Conducted an on-site inspection of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex in Ayodhya today. Necessary guidelines were also given to the officials to ensure easy and convenient darshan of Ram Lalla and to run all the necessary arrangements smoothly."
He also visited the temple and discussed crowd management with the trust officials. CM Yogi Adityanath directed officials to ensure proper crowd management for convenient 'darshan' of Ram Lalla and also appealed to people to cooperate with officials and maintain patience as this would allow everyone to have a darshan of the deity.
Devotee Faints In Crowd: At the main gateway, the one devotee fainted due to the commotion in the crowd and was taken for medical treatment. Ayodhya Divisional Commissioner Gaurav Dayal said there was a "sudden massive rush" in the morning and the people were continuously streaming in.
Information Director Shishir said more than 8,000 policemen are deployed at the temple and "everything is under control". Security guards later made a semi-circular human fence to manage the crowd as other personnel made announcements on loudspeakers to keep order.
Meanwhile, Ayodhya police, in a post on X, also refuted rumours that the temple was temporarily closed due to the heavy rush.
The Pran Pratishtha Ceremony: The Ram Temple opened for public a day after Ram Lalla idol's 'Pran Pratishtha' was held in a massive ceremony which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was attended by hundreds of guests, including the who's who from the fields of cinema, sports, politics and other backgrounds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with priests, led the affairs at the consecration ceremony as 'Yajmaan', the main host of a "puja" -- the person on whose behalf the prayers are offered.
The 'Pran Pratishtha' rituals began at 12.20 pm and concluded at 1 pm, with an 84-second 'Abhijit muhurta' or auspicious period in which PM Modi participated.
Not just Ayodhya, but the entire country rang in a 'second Diwali' of sorts with firecrackers, lights and diyas to celebrate the much-awaited 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Ram Lalla idol.
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