500 guests from Nepal bring gifts for Ram Lalla

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshera Trust general secretary Champat Rai welcomed the guests from Nepal who embarked on their journey on January 4.

Around 500 guests reached Ayodhya from Mata Sita’s hometown Janakpur in Nepal with 3000 baskets of gifts, including jewellery, sweets, fruits, clothes and utensils.

A view of Ram ki Paidi near the banks of River Saryu, in Ayodhya. (PTI File Photo)

Janakpur mayor Manoj Kumar Shah and deputy priest of Janki temple Mahant Ram Roshan Das led the Nepalese delegation which reached Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya in buses and cars late on Friday evening after covering around 450 km.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshera Trust general secretary Champat Rai welcomed the guests from Nepal who embarked on their journey on January 4. The visitors also went to the makeshift Ram temple and paid obeisance to Ram Lalla.

Devotees of the Janki temple and the temple trust arranged the gifts, Janakpur mayor Manoj Kumar Shah said. In keeping with tradition, gifts from the bride’s house, he said.

“Ayodhya and Janakpur share an old relationship. We are delighted to welcome the people of Janakpur to Ayodhya,” said Ayodhya mayor Mahant Girish Pati Tripathi.

All the guests returned to Janakpur on Saturday evening.

Earlier, water from 16 rivers of Nepal had reached Ayodhya for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. This water will be used in Vedic rituals during the ceremony.