Prayagraj:

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra on Tuesday made an appeal to the devotees of Lord Ram, living in areas nearby Ayodhya to postpone their visit by 15-20 days, to give those from faraway places ‘priority’ in Lord’s darshan, in the wake of unprecedented rush on the auspicious period.

With the onset of Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj from January 26, the holy cities of Ayodhya as well as Varanasi are also witnessing a strong surge of devotees, making it difficult for state administration to effectively manage the situation. Mauni Amavasya snan, slated for January 29 is slated to receive another mammoth stream of pilgrims.

The Ram Temple Trust on Tuesday took to X to shed light on the ‘pressing situation’ due to the huge influx of devotees and urged those in nearby locations to defer their visit to the Ayodhya Dham.

Champat Rai, the Trust chairman wrote, “There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of devotees in Ayodhya ji in the last three days. Looking at the population and size of Ayodhya Dham, it can be said that it is very difficult for such a large number of devotees to have darshan of Ramlala in a day and that is why the devotees are facing problems.”

He added that to prevent any untoward incident, it’s necessary to make appropriate changes in the systems.

“It is our request that the devotees from nearby areas should come to Ayodhya for darshan after 15-20 days so that the devotees coming from far away places can easily have darshan of the Lord. This will provide convenience to everyone,” Champat Rai said, appealing to the devotees.

He further urged the ‘nearby’ devotees to plan a visit after Basant Panchami (February 2) as the weather will also be more pleasant.

Notably, the main bath of Mauni Amavasya is in Kumbh on 29th January in Prayagraj. It is estimated that about 10 crore devotees will take bath in Prayagraj on 29th January. It is expected that devotees will head to Ayodhya after a holy dip in Prayagraj, via train and road.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

India has slammed Pakistan and described it as a “broken record” that remains stagnant while the world progresses, after Islamabad’s envoy made references to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during remarks to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA.)

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said this while responding to comments made by Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram during the plenary meeting on March 15 where the resolution ‘Measures to combat Islamophobia’, introduced by Pakistan, was adopted by the 193-member UN General Assembly.

“One final point concerns a delegation (and its remarks) that, much like a broken record, remains sadly stagnant while the world progresses,” she said.

Mr. Akram made references to the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya as well as to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Ms. Kamboj said it is “unfortunate indeed to witness this delegation’s limited and misguided perspective on matters relating to my country, the more so, when the General Assembly considers a matter that demands wisdom, depth, and a global outlook from the entire membership – perhaps not the forte of this delegation.” Ms. Kamboj delivered a statement in explanation of India’s position during the adoption of the resolution on ‘Measures to combat Islamophobia’ at the UNGA.

The General Assembly adopted the resolution, with 115 nations voting in favour, none against and 44 abstentions, including India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and the UK.