A MASSIVE crowd that swelled by the hour and became unmanageable on Tuesday afternoon thronged the main gateway to the Ram temple here as it opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, a day after the consecration ceremony. Ram Path -- the main thoroughfare -- was choked as devotees flooded the streets of the temple town, which has been gripped by religious fervour over the inauguration of the grand mandir. The entry of devotees to the temple complex began at 6 am and about 2.5 lakh people are likely to have visited the temple by 2 pm, Ayodhya Divisional Commissioner Gaurav Dayal told PTI. It is estimated that about five lakh devotees will have visited by the end of the day, another official said. Waiting in serpentine queues outside the temple were people who had been camping in Ayodhya since before the consecration ceremony, having made long and difficult journeys in biting cold to reach the temple town. An idol of the new Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, a landmark event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

On Tuesday, ‘Ram dhun’ played in the streets as security personnel kept guard and sought to control the crowd even as many chanted “Jai Shri Ram” and attempted to enter through the gateway. The crowd became so huge that the security personnel scrambled to maintain order. The entire section of the Ram Path facing the gateway was blocked as many devotees, some of whom landed with suitcases and backpacks, wanted to have a ‘darshan’. At the main gateway, the commotion in the crowd led to one devotee fainting and having to be taken for medical treatment. There was a “sudden massive rush” and the people were continuously streaming in, seeking to visit the temple and have a darshan of Ram Lalla, Dayal said. The administration is taking measures to keep the crowd in order, “with proper holding (area), queuing and proper barricading”, he added. Security guards later made a semi-circular human fence to manage the crowd as other personnel made announcements on loudspeakers to keep order. A large number of devotees had gathered outside the main gates for hours since late Monday night, waiting to enter the premises. Carrying flags bearing the visages of Lord Ram and chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, the devotees waited for hours in the biting cold before the doors of the grand temple opened early in the morning.

 

Groups of people could also be seen marching towards the temple, passing through the decked-up Ram Path. The devotees chanted “Jai Shri Ram” as they walked in and out of the temple complex. Inside the main temple, “Jai Shri Ram” chants reverberated in its grand halls. What we saw in Ayodhya on January 22 will be etched in our memories for years to come: PM NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (PTI) A DAY after the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said “what we saw” in Ayodhya will be etched in our memories for years to come. In a post on X, Modi shared a video montage of the ceremony in which a new idol of the Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple. “What we saw in Ayodhya yesterday, 22nd January, will be etched in our memories for years to come,” Modi said in his post along with the video. Modi on Monday gave a clarion call to go beyond the grand mandir’s construction to build the foundation of a “strong, capable and divine” India of the next 1,000 years. As the inauguration of the temple marked the culmination of a decades-long campaign to reclaim a disputed religious site in Ayodhya, Modi said it was the advent of a new era.