Ram temple in Ayodhya to have holding area for devotees to ease rush

AYODHYA: To ensure better crowd management and reduce long queues of devotees in the Ram temple complex, the Ayodhya administration and Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust decided to develop a holding area in the pilgrim facilitation centre.

After the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22, the Ayodhya administration has been grappling with the problem of crowd management.

To address the issue, the State government has constituted a committee comprising officials of the Ayodhya administration and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for proper coordination to manage the crowd and other affairs related to the Ram Mandir.

Divisional Commissioner, Gaurav Dayal, who heads the committee, has suggested developing a holding area at the pilgrim facilitation centre of the temple where devotees could stay for some time before allowing them to enter the main complex of the temple.

"This will ease the pressure of devotees in the temple complex and also reduce long queues," he said.

All prominent temples in South India have big holding areas to reduce pressure on devotees in the temple complex. The Ram Mandir complex has a pilgrim facilitation centre, but a holding area in the facility needs to be developed.

It has also been decided that the Trust would appoint more security staff from the private agency engaged by it due to the unprecedented crowd for the darshan of Ram Lalla.

Regarding the issue of sanitation in the temple complex, the Commissioner directed the private agency hired by the Trust to maintain cleanliness in the temple complex by recruiting more staff for proper sanitation.

The agency was also instructed to place dustbins at various locations, including at the spot where devotees undergo frisking before entering the temple.

IG, Ayodhya range, Praveen Kumar, suggested the Trust to put up an artificial intelligence-based cameras at the temple's entrance and exit.