Tuesday, 23 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
People across Uttarakhand came together on Monday to make the local celebration of the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya as big as the real consecration. A sense of excitement was observed among people of all ages who termed the consecration day the once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Several people celebrated the consecration by singing and playing Ram Bhajans and distributing Prasad, sweets and organising Bhandaras. In the provisional State capital, the ambiance was like Deepawali. Most markets, several streets and main roads were decorated with orange-coloured balloons, flags, festoons and flowers. Various groups of people voluntarily took out rallies and processions with the images and posters of Lord Ram, Sita, Hanuman and Lakshman.
Many people also visited temples in the morning and offered prayers. Every nook and corner was filled with joyous echoes of Jai Shri Ram and Bhajans. People could be seen waving flags and playing devotional songs on speakers. Many people had also placed screens in public places for the live telecast of the consecration ceremony. Many sanitation workers and rag pickers among others could be seen watching the live telecast of the ceremony on the screen placed in Paltan Bazaar. A 70-year-old Tara Singh who was singing and dancing to the Bhajans of Lord Ram in a religious programme organised near Tehsil Chowk said on the occasion, “Everyone should celebrate every moment of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya because we got it after a struggle of about four centuries. I celebrated this occasion with my grandchildren and made them aware of its importance.” Several people, groups, organisations and societies also celebrated the event by decorating their respective areas and carrying out Prasad distribution in colonies as well as on main roads. Many people were even stopping vehicle owners to give them Prasad. Alok Pandey who was handing over Halwa as Prasad on the Court Road said, “We were distributing Prasad to people since 11 AM.
Since it was a busy road, we saw that many people in cars and two-wheelers were not stopping by for Prasad, possibly for fear of causing a traffic jam. So we started approaching them and politely handed them the bowl of Prasad and everybody graciously accepted.” Besides this, priests were also quite busy on Monday as they were being called to do Pujas and other ceremonies with people considering the day auspicious. The demand for items like festoons, flowers, flags and sweet shops also increased on the day. Many also set up stalls of crackers in various parts of the city. Some burst crackers during the day while many bought them to burst at night to celebrate the occasion. Many shopkeepers said that this was the first time they sold such a large quantity of crackers besides Deepawali. They stated, “The business is not usually good at this time of the year but the consecration ceremony was like Deepawali to us.”
