‘Paan-tastic’ moment for Ayodhya’s betel seller

Sudhir Chaurasia has been supplying “paan” (betel) for the daily rituals of Ram Lalla in the makeshift temple for years.

Sudhir Chaurasia, who is the owner of a betel shop in the Hanumangarahi complex, is specially excited for the grand consecration of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust pays Chaurasia ₹2100 for the daily service, but he expects the renumeration to be up now since the daily order would be bigger. (HT)

Chaurasia has been supplying “paan” (betel) for the daily rituals of Ram Lalla in the makeshift temple for years but on Monday, he would deliver his biggest single order for the consecration rituals – 551 packs of betel leaves filled with gulkand and 50 other varieties of appurtenances.

“’Paan’ is offered to the deity daily but on Monday we will serve our single biggest order to the deity. From January 23, the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has decided to order 151 paans for the rituals,” said Chaurasia. The Trust pays Chaurasia ₹2100 for the daily service, but he expects the renumeration to be up now since the daily order would be bigger.

Sushil Gupta, who sells ‘khurchan peda’ at a shop next to the Hanumangarahi temple is also upbeat as he is getting to serve the Lord.

“Daily 1.25 kilogram of khurchan peda is served to the Lord and an equal quantity is served at Kanak Bhawan temple. On Monday, we will be preparing 5.25 kilograms of this peda for the consecration event,” Gupta said. He added extra effort was being made to ensure purity of the ‘prasad’ to be offered to the deity. “You don’t get an occasion bigger than this and utmost care is being taken to ensure purity of the prasad,” Gupta said.

The Deoraha Baba Sansthan is also preparing special laddoos that would be offered for the consecration ceremony.

As part of the preparations, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has readied ‘Mahaprasad’ for the VIPs attending the consecration ceremony. The Mahaprasad is being prepared by Gujarat’s saffron army called ‘Bharti Garvi Gujarat’ and Sant Seva Sansthan under the guidance of the Trust.

“The Mahaprasad has been prepared with more than 5,000 kg of ingredients by a team of about 200 people. Using pure desi ghee, gram flour, sugar and five dry fruits, it is being prepared by the Bharti Garvi Gujarat to ensure purity of Mahaprasad and no readymade ingredient from the market has been used,” said Kamal Bhai Rawal, the institute’s head. Each prasad packet would contain two laddoos, water of river Saryu , akshat, betel nut bag and kalava, he added.