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Mad rush of devotees at Ram temple a day after Consecration; Yogi rushes to Ayodhya

The Uttar Pradesh government had rushed more security personnel and all vehicles reaching Ayodhya were stopped to control the crowd.

Mad rush of devotees at Ram temple a day after Consecration; Yogi rushes to Ayodhya

Devotees at the Ram Temple after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya on Monday. (ANI Photo/ Amit Sharma)

A day after the temple consecration ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rambhakts thronged the Ram temple early Tuesday. With the sea of people keen to have darshan of Ram Lalla, authorities were caught napping.

The Uttar Pradesh government had rushed more security personnel and all vehicles reaching Ayodhya were stopped to control the crowd.

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All government buses going to Ayodhya have been diverted.

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Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Ayodhya in the afternoon along with officials to inspect the situation. The CM also made a helicopter survey of the crowd management near the Ram temple.

Later, Adityanath reached the sanctum sanctorum of Ram temple along with officials to monitor the crowd. The CM assured all the devotees that they will have darshan of Ram Lalla.

As today was the first Tuesday after the consecration ceremony , devotees rushed to pray at the Ram temple and Hanumangarhi after taking a dip in the holy Saryu river since early morning.

The Ram temple was slated to open at 7AM after cleaning, but a large crowd of over one lakh reached the temple by 3AM in the morning which forced the authorities to open the temple early.

However , there was a mad rush between the devotees to have the darshan of Ram Lalla which led to a stampede-like situation. But due to sincere efforts of the security personnel, the situation was avoided.

Earlier, Chief Minister Adityanath himself took stock of the situation and rushed Principal Secretary Home Sanjay Prasad and Special DG ( Law and Order) Prashant Kumar here who took control of the crowd near the sanctum sanctorum.

The Special DG said today two and a half to three lakh devotees had darshan of Ram Lalla till 3 PM and the same number of devotees were standing in the queues.

”All arrangements are under control. More than 8,000 security personnel have been deployed in the temple to control the crowd,” he added.

Lucknow Zone ADG Piyush Mordia said, “People are requested not to lose patience. The number of devotees is very large and people will have to wait for the darshan. Everyone will have darshan.Heavy vehicles have been diverted so that people do not face problems.”

Meanwhile, in view of the huge crowd in Ayodhya Ram temple, all the buses of UP Roadways going to the temple city have been stopped. Transport Corporation General Manager, Operation Manoj Pundir said the operation of buses on all routes going to Ayodhya has been stopped. The order will be reviewed when the crowd reduces, he added.

On the other hand, all the roads leading to the temple in Ayodhya have been closed four to five kilometers in advance. Only pedestrians have been allowed to walk in a line. The administration has taken this decision in view of the huge crowd which had gathered outside the temple since morning.

The Lucknow District Magistrate has directed that no travellers should be sent to Ayodhya right now. ”There is a problem in controlling the increasing crowd. Instead, arrangements should be made to send people from here to somewhere else,” he said.

The District Magistrate of Barabanki has directed that no bus of the Transport Corporation will be able to go to Ayodhya right now because of the crowd situation in Ayodhya.

Buses plying from Lucknow to Gorakhpur route would be operated via Ramnagar-Gonda, authorities said.

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