30 lakh people descend in Ayodhya for annual 'parikrama'

Ayodhya (UP): About 30 lakh people gathered in Ayodhya on Tuesday to take part in the 'Chaudah Kosi Parikrama,' temple officials said.

A 'parikrama' is a Hindu ritual that involves circumambulation around an object of reverence.

It started in the early hours of Tuesday and saw devotees orbiting around a 50 kilometre area of the temple town of Ayodhya. The parikrama will be completed by Thursday morning.

Mahant Dhanidhar Das, a senior saint at the Hanuman Garhi temple told PTI, "As per religious scriptures, it is believed that in this Chaudah Kosi Parikrama, which is followed by Panch Kosi Parikrama, not only humans but also the 33 crore Hindu gods and goddesses also come to Ayodhya and do parikrama."

He said that around 30 lakh devotees and about 2 lakh saints from such religious places as Prayagraj, Haridwar, Mathura, Kashi (Varanasi) and all the seven Puris, the sacred chairs of Hindudom, have come to Ayodhya to perform the parikrama.

The parikrama is held every year in Ayodhya on Kartik Akshaya Navami.

It will be followed by the Panch Kosi Parikrama which will start on Thursday evening and in which devotees will walk along a 15-km periphery of the city, Das said.

Senior Superintendent of Police RK Nayyar said the rapid action force of CRPF has been deployed to ensure an incident-free parikrama.

He said CCTVs have been installed at about two hundred points to keep a close watch on all activities in the parikrama area.

The entire area has been divided into five zones and 12 sectors to be supervised by Deputy SP rank police officers and two main security zones are under the watch of Additional SP ranks officers, Nayyar said.

Provincial armed constabulary of the UP Police, para military forces, and anti terrorist squads have been deployed all along the parikrama route.

Bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage teams and intelligence officers have been posted at key security points, Nayyar added.