1.5 lakh devotees gathered at Ayodhya Ram temple on the first day: What to do and what not to do for darshan?

Yesterday, a huge crowd gathered for the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, with hundreds of devotees gathering at the premises on Tuesday morning to have darshan of Lord Ram Lala.

Ayodhya divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal said the Ayodhya administration had to postpone the darshan till 2 pm to control the crowd as more than 1.5 lakh devotees had reached the temple on the first day.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust issued darshan timings and advisory for devotees to avoid chaos. Devotees will be allowed to visit the idol of Ramlala from 7 am to 11.30 am and from 2 pm to 7 pm. The temple will remain closed for darshan every day from 1 pm to 3 pm.

As per the guidelines set by the Trust, fruits and milk can be offered to the idol of Lord Ram.

Ramlala’s attire will remain different throughout the week; It is white on Monday, red on Tuesday, green on Wednesday, yellow on Thursday, light yellow on Friday, blue on Saturday and pink on Sunday. On special occasions he will be decked up in yellow attire.

It is noteworthy that the temple remains open for darshan every day.

scene from day 1

People started coming from 3 am on Tuesday morning not only from within Ayodhya but also from neighboring districts like Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich, Unnao and Gorakhpur to get a glimpse of Ram Lalla. Rajesh Pandey, a local resident who reached Ayodhya to see the temple, said, “Around 7 am, as soon as the temple gates opened, a chaotic situation arose.”

Barricading was done to control the crowd on Tuesday morning.

“Special crowd management system was put in place. Ayodhya divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal said, we have created a special holding area and are releasing the crowd in a controlled manner to avoid any chaos at the Ram temple.

Inspector General of Police (IG), Ayodhya Praveen Kumar said the newly deployed UP special forces and other security personnel have been given special instructions to manage the crowd. “Our responsibility is to manage the crowd but at the same time we also have to be the police. The security forces have been strictly told not to behave harshly with the devotees and ensure strict crowd management,” Kumar told News18.