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Admn on toes to handle sea of devotees for momentous Ram Navami in Ayodhya
Continuous coordination meetings are being held between Ram Janmabhoomi Trust and district administration, focusing on the challenge of controlling the crowd and serving the pilgrims who will start arriving in Ayodhya three days before the festival and will stay for two or three days after the festival.
Ayodhya : Expecting the biggest ever inflow of devotees on Ram Navami this year , the Uttar Pradesh government and Ayodhya district administration have started making massive arrangements to manage the influx of visitors .
Ram Navami , the festival to celebrate the birth of Shri Ram , will be observed on the ninth day of shukla paksha in Chaitra month of Hindu calendar. As per the Gregorian calendar, the day will fall on April 17.
Continuous coordination meetings are being held between Ram Janmabhoomi Trust and district administration, focusing on the challenge of controlling the crowd and serving the pilgrims who will start arriving in Ayodhya three days before the festival and will stay for two or three days after the festival.
According to officials , they are working on a war footing to ensure the safety and comfort of the devotees during Ram Navami . However, it is tough to guage the actual number of expected devotees and different teams are working on it.
Maintaining smooth and safe entry and exit at Ram Janmabhoomi temple, the Trust is pondering over multi entries and exits for devotees to avoid any stampede-like situation.
Keeping in view the hot weather, water and mats on the open floors are also being arranged to save devotees from heat stroke.
Officials are also ensuring availability and regular supply of essentials such as milk , sugar , tea , food grains and vegetables etc in dharamshalas, temples , tent cities and hotels where the pilgrims will stay.
There will be round the clock availability of medical facilities with extra beds in government health institutions and private hospitals. Traffic will also be streamlined and there will be a watchful eye on visitors to segregate criminal elements.
The administration is making arrangements for a dip in river Saryu and focus is also on providing public toilets and regular cleaning , for which more than 2000 sanitation workers will be involved.
Managing the stay of devotees in limited rooms of tent cities , dharamshalas , temples and hotels will also be a challenging job for the administration.
Anil Mishra , tgrustee of Ram Temple Trust , said that a huge crowd was expected in Ayodhya around , before and after Ram Navami, so a plan was being prepared after brainstorming on all the issues ranging from security arrangements to providing easy darshan to the devotees and ensuring that they did not face any problem.
He said chief minister Yogi Adityanath himself was monitoring the arrangements and the Trust was also planning the best management for all the visitors.
Ram Navami celebration will begin with a prayer to the sun early in the morning. At midday, when Lord Ram is supposed to have been born, a special prayer will be performed. People will sing devotional songs in praise of Lord Ram and rock images of him in a cradle to celebrate his birth. Rathyatras or chariot processions of Ram, his wife Sita, brother Lakshman and devotee Hanuman will be taken out from many temples and people will gather on the banks of the sacred river Sarayu for a holy dip.
