Why devotees are leaving behind their footwear at Ram temple in Ayodhya

The Ayodhya Municipal Corporation is facing a conundrum these days, as devotees visiting the Ram temple are leaving their footwear at the entry gate following a change in crowd management measures that now require them to walk a distance of 5 to 6 km to retrieve them.

Abandoned footwear “in lakhs” are being collected daily from the entry gate of the temple using JCB machines which are then loaded onto trolleys and taken away to be dumped at a spot 4-5 km away, officials of the municipal corporation said.

Also read: Ayodhya | Ram Mandir 'darshan' timing advanced by an hour to 6 am

Usually, the devotees are asked to deposit their footwear at Gate 1 of the temple, the primary entrance situated on Ram Path. After completing a circular route of roughly half a kilometre inside the temple premises, people make their way to the same gate to collect the footwear.

Bid to manage rush

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust member Anil Mishra, however, told PTI that these changes have been made for the past month “to ensure that the unexpected crowd of devotees can easily have darshan without any chaos.”

He added that Gate 1 is where devotees enter the temple and leave their footwear. However, after following a circular route around half a kilometre around the temple they are directed out via Gate 3.

Mishra explained that since the Ram Path is a one-way route, the devotees exiting from Gate 3 walk a longer route past Shri Ram Hospital, which adds an extra 5 to 6 kilometres to their journey, just to get their shoes back. Since, no one wants to make the long trek back for their footwear, they abandon it, leading them to pile up at the temple gates.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh: Ayodhya prepares for Ram Lalla consecration anniversary

Since the beginning of the Maha kumbh, a huge influx of devotees has been arriving in Ayodhya. More than 1.25 crore devotees visited the Ram temple in Ayodhya during 45 days of Maha Kumbh. The influx of devotees began on Makar Sankranti and continued unabated until Maha Shivratri.

(With agency inputs)