As the nation is just a day away from the Ram temple consecration (pran pratishtha) in Ayodhya, Gujarat gears up for festivities, and Gujaratis plan to pour into Ayodhya.

Tourism in Ayodhya is set to spring with the new temple’s consecration on Jan 22.

While direct train bookings to Ayodhya from Ahmedabad are experiencing a three-month wait, airfares to Ayodhya have skyrocketed.

Direct flights to Ayodhya from Ahmedabad saw a major rush amid airfares as high as ₹13,000.

Devotees opt tiring route

Despite the exhaustive 31-hour route, people are opting for private bus services to reach Ayodhya.

“Amongst the tour inquiries, most were for visiting Ayodhya,” said a travel agent.

He went on to say, “The coming two months will see a rush of Gujaratis travelling to Ayodhya with at least 50,000 Gujaratis, out of which 15,000 will be from Ahmedabad.”

With the summer vacations coming in a few months, even more Gujaratis may travel to Ayodhya.

Currently, there is one direct flight from Ahmedabad to Ayodhya. However, seeing a rush in bookings, more airline operators are likely to start direct flights to Ayodhya from Ahmedabad.

“Usually, during summer vacations, inquiries received were for a tour to Char Dham Yatra, Rishikesh, or Haridwar, but now eight out of ten inquiries are for Ayodhya,” said another tour and travel operator.

He also said that more than 75,000 people from Gujarat are likely to visit Ayodhya during summer vacations.

Festivities in Gujarat

People in Gujarat are engaged in a swing of festivities in their residential areas. Societies lit up with lights and programmes of Ram dhun, rallies, and a live screening of pran patishtha are also scheduled for Jan 22.

Clinching the opportunity, a total of five multiplexes in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar have organised a live screening of the Ayodhya pran pratishtha ceremony on Jan 22 at 11 a.m.

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