Temple town buzzes with activity a day after top court's Ayodhya verdict

AYODHYA: The temple town of Ayodhya was buzzing with activities on Sunday as devotees flocked to various temples, a day after the Supreme Court gave its landmark judgement ending the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.


The areas near

Hanumangarhi

and Naya Ghat were busy from the morning itself, as people from different walks of life arrived here to pay obeisance to Lord Ram and his ardent devotee Hanuman.

The relief that was prevalent in the temple city the previous day seems to have transformed into a sense of joy.

People in the Rikabganj area of the city and other parts could be seen going through newspapers to understand the nuances of the Supreme Court judgement, and also ascertain, what people in other parts of the country feel about the Ayodhya verdict.

Sandeep Singh, who works as a manager at a hotel in Ayodhya, said, "It was a rare Sunday for the Ayodhyawaasis (residents of Ayodhya) as Sun God and son of Wind God (Lord Hanuman) smiled profusely and generously on them. This Sunday holds special significance for us, as we woke up to a new and transformed Sunday, with a feeling of relief that the lingering issue of Ayodhya dispute has been resolved once and for all."

Shops selling utensils, materials used in the puja, idols and pictures of gods and goddesses, and eateries were open.

Owner of a sweet shop in the vicinity of Hanumangarhi temple, Anoop Saini and Vaibhav Gupta, were seen browsing through pages of newspapers and discussing the outcome of Saturday's judgement.

"After the judgement in favour of Ram Lalla, we knew that we will fall short of garlands, so we had ordered additional garlands from Varanasi and neighbouring cities," Anoop Saini said.

He added that Ayodhya will now grow in the right direction. "I am sure that Ayodhya will see its golden era in coming days. This is the best example of Satyamev Jayate," he said.

Jaipur residents Awadhesh Sharma and Kajormal Sharma said they felt proud and blessed to have been in Ayodhya when the Supreme Court delivered its judgment.

Settling the fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the Supreme Court on Saturday backed the construction of a Ram temple by a government trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

Delivering a unanimous verdict on a case that has long polarised the country and frayed the secular tapestry of Indian society, a five-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the faith of Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed, and he is symbolically the owner of the land.

Ganesh Tare, who along with a group of 55 tourists, arrived here from Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) on Sunday, said that he felt joyed by the verdict.

"This is a new morning, a new Sunday. As barriers have been put up at various parts of Ayodhya, the number of devotees coming here at this point of time is a bit less. However, in the next couple of days, it is likely to go up. There is absolute normalcy," senior priest of Hanumangarhi temple, Mahant Raju Das, told PTI.

"Lord Ram is the eventual truth in life. I am feeling extremely happy," said Mahant Pawan Kumar Das of Ayodhya and Baba Bhawani Das.

Traffic on the national highway linking Ayodhya to neighbouring cities of Basti, Barabnaki, Azamgarh and Ambedkarnagar and to state capital Lucknow was normal.