Ayodhya: Ahead of consecration ceremony, hotels, resorts witness advance booking rush

With the date of the consecration ceremony of Lord Ramas idol at Ram Janmabhoomi drawing near the city hotels in this Uttar Pradesh district are seeing a rush among travel agents and devotees to book rooms in advanceWhile it is being speculated that the ceremony may be held between 15 January to 24 January the exact date of the function is yet to become officially clearHoteliers and resort owners in the city are expecting a massive influx of devotees to witness the historic event with several of them claiming that parties are trying to book rooms for 10 to 12 days to ensure that they do not miss out on the historic event at the last momentTaking note of the expected rush for the ceremony Divisional Commissioner DC Gaurav Dayal on Wednesday convened a meeting of hotel owners of Ayodhya in preparation and instructed them to decorate their hotels to give a warm welcome to their guests during the consecration ceremonyWe are regularly receiving calls from Delhi Bombay and other metro cities from people who want to book our rooms for a full fortnight managing director of Ayodhyas oldest hotel ShanEAwadh Sharad Kapoor said We are ready to welcome the devotees but I am keeping at least 40 per cent of the rooms in the hotel reserved as the senior police and administration officials prefer to stay at my hotel because we have been cooperating with them since the beginning of the Ram Janambhoomi movement Kapoor said adding that he anticipates a huge influx of dignitaries along with Prime Minister Narendra ModiTalking to PTI Sangram Singh a resort owner said We had a query from a Bombay based travel agency for 1500 rooms for a week but the problem is that the exact date of ceremony is not clear DC Dayal on Wednesday also distributed registration certificates to 41 building owners under the paying guest schemeAddressing all the building owners he said in the coming days along with the consecration of the grand Shri Ram temple the number of devotees coming to Ayodhya will increase by lakhs out of which a large number of devotees will also stay overnightHotel guest house and homestay will be required for their stay the Commissioner said adding that these homestays will not only give the devotees a homelike experience but also generate additional income and employment opportunities for the locals in the district There are around 150 hotels in Faizabad and Ayodhya including 10 luxurious hotels 25 budget hotels 115 economy hotels 35 unrecognised guest houses 50 dharamshalas 50 homestaypaying guest houses accounting for a total of 10000 rooms in the districtsAdditionally there are four government guest houses having around 35 rooms About 50 small guest houses currently under construction are expected to be ready by November The construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is going on in full swing with the temple likely to open for devotees on January 24 next year after the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol which will be a 10day ritual chairman of temple construction committee Nripendra Mishra had said last monthThe ground floor work of the threestorey Ram temple has been completed Mishra had said adding that the temple Trust has decided to start the process of the consecration of Ram Lalla on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on January 14 Between January 14 and January 24 a 10day ritual of Ram Lallas pran pratishtha consecration will be observed Mishra told reporters hereThe idol of Ram Lalla may be consecrated on January 22 as according to astrologers consulted by the temple trust it is the best date the sources had saidAuthorities of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the consecration ceremony during which the idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the templeTrust general secretary Champat Rai had said a request letter signed by Trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das will be sent to the prime minister As no date has been fixed for the consecration of the idol the PM will be asked to give his permission regarding any favourable date between December 2023 and January 26 2024 Rai had told reporters last monthThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever