Temple to open gates at 2am on Ram Navami

Patna: Ram Navami will be celebrated on March 27, and in view of the expected crowds, the Mahavir Mandir gates will open at 2am on the day. After a 15-minute aarti, the process of offering prasad and darshan will begin and continue until the night aarti.Patna DM Thiyagarajan S M and SSP Kartikeya K Sharma presided over a review meeting on Tuesday at the Mahavir Mandir premises to finalise administrative arrangements for the festival.Priests from Ayodhya will conduct the religious ceremonies at the temple. The management and the district administration will install LED screens for live viewing of rituals and provide 15 Naivedyam laddu counters outside the temple premises to distribute a targeted 24,000 kg of prasad.The district administration will implement security, crowd management and traffic measures starting March 26 with the deployment of magistrates, police officers and 100 private security personnel. Separate queues for male and female devotees will extend from Veer Kunwar Singh Park to the temple using iron and bamboo barricades.Facilities including medical camps, stationary ambulances, a temporary control room and help desks will be set up. The Patna Municipal Corporation will manage round-the-clock cleanliness and street lighting.Arrangements for clean drinking water through tankers and ATMs, mobile toilets and shaded canopies for devotees in the queue will also be in place. Vending will be prohibited near entry points, parking zones and drop gates to prevent congestion.Monitoring of all activities will be carried out through CCTV and videography. Traffic management will be coordinated by the SP Traffic to address disruptions caused by metro construction near Patna Junction, with the final plan to be shared through media outlets.Information and assistance will be available through the district control room or emergency services. The meeting was attended by the SP Traffic, SDO Patna Sadar, ADM law and order and representatives of the Mahavir Sthan Nyas Samiti and various puja committees.