Ayodhya, Jan 22: Hymns and songs about Lord Ram reverberated in temples, special prayers were held, processions taken out, rangolis made and bhandara events were held Monday as the country soaked in religious fervour on the occasion of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
To coincide with the historic day, three babies were delivered by caesarean operation at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, a 42-year-old woman in Maharashtra’s Thane city had a ‘muhurat delivery’ while a Muslim woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad gave birth to a boy and named him Ram Rahim to signify Hindu-Muslim unity.
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day. Some states declared a ‘dry day’ and asked shops selling non-vegetarian food items to remain closed till evening.
Since morning, people flocked temples that were bedecked with flowers, lamps, flags and posters. In the evening, there was a Diwali-like atmosphere as diyas were lit outside homes, shops and business establishments.
In Kerala, rituals at the Triprayar Sree Ramaswamy temple in Thrissur district were performed from early morning.
Situated on the bank of the Karuvannur or Theevra river, it is dedicated to Lord Ram. The temple is renowned for the Nalambalam yatra — a pilgrimage to the abodes of Lord Ram and his brothers Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughan — and worshipping at all these temples on a single day in the Malayalam month of Karkidakam is considered auspicious, drawing many devotees.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan offered prayers at the Ramadevi Temple in Vazhuthacaud in the state capital.
The Sree Ramaswamy Temple at Ramapuram in Kottayam is also one of four temples where the deities are the four sons of King Dasaratha of Ramayana.
Prayers were also performed at several temples in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar, and the Hanuman temple on the banks of Jhelum river in Amirakadal area of the city.
A havan was organised at the Sun temple at Mattan in Anantnag district to celebrate the consecration ceremony as the devotees prayed for return of complete normalcy in Kashmir.
Spiritual fever gripped Jharkhand with special prayers organised in more than 51,000 temples across the state.
A massive rangoli of Lord Ram measuring 18,500 sqft was inaugurated by Union Tribal Affairs and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda on the premises of Sri Laxmi Narayan Temple at Cable Town in Golmuri in Jamshedpur.
Women devotees in neighbouring Bihar sang ‘kirtan’ (devotional songs) at the Hanuman Mandir in Priyadarshi Nagar on Bailey Road in Patna since early morning while a procession was taken out from Sri Krishna Pranami Temple took with people carrying ‘kalash’ and the Ramayana on their heads.
All major intersections of Mathura, home to the Krishna Janmasthan Temple, were decorated and bhandara set up in many parts of the city. At the Radha-Krishna mandir inside the temple complex, the idols were given the appearance of Lord Ram and Sita.
LED screens were put up at various places and the ceremony at Ayodhya was live streamed.
In the morning, ‘prabhat pheris’ (processions) were taken out in localities of various districts where men, women and children dressed in colourful attires and holding saffron flags sang devotional songs in praise of Lord Ram amid the beating of drums.
In Delhi, the ruling AAP organised a series of events — from shobha yatras to bhandaras, ‘Sundar Kand’ recitals to aartis — across the 70 assembly constituencies to mark the consecration ceremony. A three-day Ramlila event at ITO’s Pearey Lal Bhawan will also culminate in the evening.
Religious events were organised across Rajasthan with bhajan, kirtan and Ramayan recitation performed in temples in many places. Processions were also taken out at different places, including Jaipur.
In the state’s Jaisalmer district, BSF soldiers recited Ramayana at Tanot Mata Temple located on the India-Pakistan border.
In Himachal Pradesh, an ‘Akhand Ramayan’ recital was organised at a temple devoted to Lord Ram in Shimla.
Immersed in devotion, people in Haryana and Punjab also thronged temples, organised processions and community feasts. (PTI)
