Ayodhya turns into fortress ahead of 'bhumi poojan', Trust likens event to Independence Day

The temple town of Ayodhya has virtually turned into a fortress ahead of Wednesday's 'bhoomi pujan' for the proposed Ram temple, likened to the Independence Day by the Shriram Janmabhoomi Teert Trust, which was overseeing construction of the temple.

The borders of the town have been sealed completely and the entry of outsiders, without passes, has been banned. The residents of the town have been asked to keep identification proof.

The area around the Janmabhoomi has been declared a red zone and no one is being allowed in without specially issued security passes, police sources said.

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Movement of buses and other commercial vehicles will also be banned on the National Highway 24 between Barabanki and Ayodhya, according to the police sources.

Prime minister Narendra Modi will be laying the foundation stone of the Ram temple in the presence of prominent saints from across the country.

Trust general secretary Champat Rai sought to liken the 'bhoomi pujan' day to Independence Day. "It is as historic as the Independence Day...the people of the country are as happy as they must have been on winning the Kargil War or on nuclear explosion," he said.

Terming the Babri Mosque a symbol of 'slavery', Rai said that for the first time a 500-year-old symbol of slavery was removed with the concurrence of the judiciary.

A festive atmosphere prevailed in Ayodhya with loudspeakers atop important temples and ashrams as well as shops blaring couplets of the Ramcharitmanas, the Hindu epic penned by Goswami Tulsidas.

The temple town has been decorated with colourful arches on the way leading to the Ram Janmabhoomi while yellow and saffron flags fluttered on the rooftops of houses and shops.

The bright illumination at the temples, ashrams and mutts as well as at the houses in Ayodhya make one think as if it is 'Diwali'.

Over five thousand coloured pitchers, to be decorated with green mango leaves, will be placed on the way from Saket Degree College to the Janmabhoomi on Wednesday. Modi will land at the specially made helipad inside the College, and from there drive down to the venue.

A 'maha aarti' will be held on Wednesday on the bank of the holy Saryu river with 2,100 earthen lamps, the NGO, which is organising the event, said in Ayodhya on Tuesday.

All the guests, who would be attending the ceremony will be given silver coins engraved with the portraits of Lord Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman.

All the temples, ashrams and mutts in Ayodhya were sanitised on Tuesday as a precautionary measure owing to the Covid-19 scare.

Officials said that social distancing protocol will be followed strictly during the ceremony. There will be adequate distance between the chairs at the venue, they said.