Barabanki police asks devotees to avoid going to Ayodhya due to rush at newly opened Ram temple

Pic/PTI

Barabanki police urged people to not visit Ayodhya on Tuesday as there was a heavy rush of devotees at the newly opened Ram temple, reported news agency PTI.

The doors of the newly opened Ram temple was opened to the general public on Tuesday, a day after the consecration of the new Ram Lalla idol.

Traffic towards Ayodhya has been diverted from Barabanki, about 30 km from Lucknow, and devotees travelling by foot were also stopped, police said, reported PTI.

"In view of the heavy rush of devotees in Ayodhya dham, it is requested that they avoid going there today," Barabanki police said in a post on X, reported PTI.

"All the traffic towards Ayodhya is being delivered and devotees travelling by foot are also being requested to stop," it said, reported PTI.

Huge crowds were witnessed in Ayodhya on the day the temple was opened for the general public.

Meanwhile, a massive crowd that swelled by the hour and became unmanageable in the afternoon thronged the main gateway to the Ram temple as it opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, a day after the consecration ceremony, reported PTI.

Ram Path -- the main thoroughfare -- was choked as devotees flooded the streets of the temple town, which has been gripped by religious fervour over the inauguration of the grand mandir, reported PTI.

An official said two lakh people had come to the temple till the afternoon and estimated that about five lakh devotees will have visited by the end of the day.

Waiting in serpentine queues outside the temple were people who have been camping in Ayodhya since before the consecration ceremony, having made long and difficult journeys to reach the temple town.

An idol of the new Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, a landmark event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Tuesday, 'Ram dhun' played in the streets as security personnel kept guard and sought to control the crowd even as many chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and attempted to enter through the gateway.

For a couple hours in the afternoon, the crowd became so huge that the security personnel scrambled to maintain order.

The entire section of the Ram Path facing the gateway was blocked as many devotees, some of whom landed with suitcases and backpacks, wanted to have 'darshan'. At the main gateway, the commotion in the crowd led to one devotee fainting and having to be taken for medical treatment.

(With inputs from PTI)