New Delhi: Ayodhya’s civic body has been grappling with a unique challenge for the last one month — removing a huge heap of discarded footwear at the Ram Temple. A change in crowd management at the temple has led to a growing footwear problem that is mounting each passing day.
As lakhs of devotees discard their footwear at the entry of temple gates, they are being hauled up every day by the JCB machines deployed by the municipal corporation authorities. These footwear — including shows, slippers, and sandals — are collected and then loaded onto trolleys. The trolleys take away the abandoned footwear to a dumping ground which is 4-5 km away from the temple premises, the municipal corporation authorities were quoted as saying by PTI.
Many opt to abandon them
At Gate 1 of the temple, the main entrance located on Ram Path, the authorities ask the devotees to put off their footwear. Those visiting the temple leave their shoes there and then follow a circular route of approximately half a kilometre within the temple premises.
To manage the crowd, the Ayodhya civic body officials redirect the devotees to exit through Gate 3 and other gates. This requires them to take a walk of around 5-6 km to get their footwear back. Many of these devotees are not prepared to take such a long walk to retrieve their footwear and so, they just abandon them there and leave the temple barefoot, officials said.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust member Anil Mishra stated that the number of visitors has surged due to the Maha Kumbh. “Changes have been made in the arrangements for the past 30 days to ensure that the unexpected crowd of devotees can easily have darshan without any chaos,” Mishra added.
He pointed out that devotees are directed to exit through Gate 3 of the temple complex, which has been opened. After they visit the temple, the visitors are being guided out through this gate. “After the darshan, devotees proceed past Shri Ram Hospital. Due to the one-way track on Ram Path, devotees have to walk 5-6 km again to reach the shoe removal area,” Mishra added.
