A day after the pran pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla idol at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Uttar Pradesh government had to impose an immediate ban on all incoming vehicles, including state roadways buses in view of an overwhelming surge of devotees on Jan 23.

At the end of the day on Jan 23, at least 4 lakh devotees did darshan at Ram temple and more were still waiting outside the temple.

Darshan timings extended

In view of the huge number of devotees visiting the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the temple administration has taken a decision to extend the time for darshan.

Now devotees can have darshan of Ram Lalla till 10 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

In the morning shift, darshan will remain open from 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.

According to official sources, about five lakh devotees are camping in Ayodhya for darshan at the temple and a regular stream of devotees is coming in.

The Ayodhya district administration has appealed to the devotees to come to Ayodhya after 10-15 days and have darshan of Ram Lalla.

It is noteworthy that more than eight thousand policemen are monitoring the system.

Director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar and principal secretary (home) Sanjay Prasad are also camping in Ayodhya to monitor the situation.

Ayodhya Ram temple stampede

Despite security at Ram temple, on Jan 23, a sudden influx of pilgrims in Ayodhya, causing a chaotic situation and challenging the security arrangements in place. While some individuals sustained minor injuries due to overcrowding, there were no reports of serious harm.

A meeting was held on the situation in Ayodhya following which the authorities decided to impose a ban on all vehicles bound for Ayodhya for the next few days. All online bookings made for these vehicles have been cancelled, and refunds for bus fares of pilgrims are to be processed promptly.

The doors of the temple were opened on the morning of Jan 22 for the general public after the pran pratishtha ceremony.

The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) had also suspended all buses to Ayodhya due to the large number of visitors and unmanageable crowds in the city until further notice.

Officials said: “No passenger should be sent to Ayodhya right now. There is a problem in controlling the increasing crowd. Arrangements should be made to send people elsewhere from Ayodhya. There are no restrictions for travellers beyond Ayodhya.”

The 933 UPSRTC buses that were travelling directly or via Ayodhya have either been stalled or diverted, they added.

Moreover, the Ayodhya Dham Express fleet of 10 buses, or the Ram Raths that would take pilgrims directly to the Ram temple, are also stationed at the depots in Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ballia and Prayagraj, waiting to be called to duty.

Despite vehicular traffic ban, devotees continued to pour into Ayodhya

The ban on vehicular traffic entering Ayodhya, apparently, had not dampened the mood of devotees who continue to flock to the holy city.  

According to reports, devotees were undeterred by the late-night ban on Jan 23 and are now walking on foot to reach Ayodhya and have darshan of the new temple.

Since all vehicular movement towards Ayodhya was stopped on the night of Jan 23, people are now walking to the holy city. 

Authorities, CM on their toes to curb crowd

Principal secretary (home) Sanjay Prasad and director general (law and order) Prashant Kumar rushed to the temple town for better crowd management and stayed inside the garbha griha of the temple for hours to ensure orderly movement of devotees. Even chief minister Yogi Adityanath had to fly over to Ayodhya to take stock of the situation.

Earlier in the day, ADG (Lucknow zone), Piyush Mordia and inspector-general of police (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar, along with other local authorities, had to struggle to ensure proper crowd management.

The police had to hold the crowd at the borders of the temple town while authorities appealed to people to visit Ayodhya after a few days.

Former UP DGP OP Singh said the most important aspect of crowd management should be channelising people through a longer zig-zag route and complete control at the access point.

“Video analytics through CCTV cameras and drones could be used to assess crowd psychology to improve the crowd management system gradually,” he emphasised.

He said that authorities must ensure no bottlenecks are created by people stopping in front of the idol to click photographs or taking extra time to take a glimpse of the deity.

Authorities should also be ready with an emergency exit plan in case any person falls sick as well as ambulances and makeshift hospitals. Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das, however, said today that it is unlikely that everyone would be able to have a darshan of the new Ram Lalla idol in the temple town due to huge crowds.

(Compiled from IANS)

-Edited for style

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