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South Indian group stuck in Ayodhya leaves for home town
This was Narasimhappa’s third trip to Ayodhya. On the first two occasions he came alone. But on this third pilgrimage there were 13 others with him. They reached Ayodhya on March 21 with a return ticket for March 25.
When former Sanskrit lecturer N Narasimhappa left Bengaluru with 13 other family member and friends for a pilgrimage to Ayodhya, he had no inkling they would all be stuck in a temple for 55 days
After a long wait for around two months, Narasimhappa, around 67, and others were able to leave for Bengaluru on Friday .
At around 7.30 am, they left Hanumant Sia Raghunath Sadan ashram in Ayodhya to board the Sangam Mitra train at Jhansi railway station. This ashram was their home for the past 55 days.
Mahant Ram Sundar Saran, head of the ashram and others bid them farewell.
“They became our responsibility. It was our duty to look after them. It was an emotional moment for all of us when they left. For the past two months we looked after them like our own family. All efforts were made to make their stay in the ashram comfortable,” said the Mahant.
This was Narasimhappa’s third trip to Ayodhya. On the first two occasions he came alone. But on this third pilgrimage there were 13 others with him. They reached Ayodhya on March 21 with a return ticket for March 25.
But the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown from March 25 left them stranded in Ayodhya.
“The day lockdown was announced (March 24), we decided to leave the hotel and take refuge in the ashram (Hanumant Sia Raghunath Sadan). There was no option. It was a 21-day lockdown,” said Narasimhappa.
“We were worried how we would sustain for 21 days in Ayodhya with a limited budget. What would happen next, how would we reach Bengaluru and what if we run out of money?,” said Narasimhappa.
And then, Ram Sundar Saran, his deputy Nityanand Saran and other members of the ashram took it upon themselves to take care of this 14 –member group, including four men, nine women and an eight-year-old child.
“We hoped that after April 17 we would be able to leave for Bengaluru. But as the lockdown was extended on three successive occasions, depression gripped all of us,” said Narasimhappa.
With bare knowledge of Hindi language, interacting with the ashram staff and other locals was also a problem for this group.
But as the locals came to know about these south Indians stranded in the ashram, aid started arriving for them. The district administration of Ayodhya also extended all support to them.
Mamta Shastri of Darshan Bhavan ashram also helped the group.
Janardan Tewari, another local of Ayodhya was instrumental in getting train tickets booked for them and arranging their road-journey to Jhansi.
Things became easy for these pilgrims after they met Kamla Kant Sundaram, a south Indian living in Ayodhya Sundarm’s family has been living in Ayodhya for the past three generations.
“The ashram also made available to us its kitchen to prepare south Indian food. The ashram and locals provided essential food grain,” said Paravathamma, a woman member of the group.
Overwhelmed by the hospitality, Narasimhappa and the others promised to return after the pandemic subsided.
