U.P. Theerth Yatra - Day 3

The hotel / lodge where we stayed in Ayodhya was called Sri Ramanuj Padhachhaya at Ramkot, Ayodhya. It was only 700 meters away from Sri Ram Janmabhoomi, 400 meters away from Hanuman Gaddhi and 100 meters away from Kanak Bhavan. 

On Day 3, we finished our morning prayers before proceeding by foot towards the newly constructed & consecrated Ram Janmabhoomi temple. We only carried the printout of the special darshan pass, our aadhar card and wallet as we were told no electronic items were allowed inside.

Within 10 minutes, we reached the first check point where our pass was checked and we were allowed to proceed. After that, we came to the second check point where we were frisked - they couldn't find anything and hence confiscated my pocket comb !! Here we saw a security chief of some outfit who had come with his wife was stopped and frisked. He was upset but chose to not protest vehemently.

From here, the temple was only a few minutes walk away. There was a place to remove our footwear. From here, we walked about 100 steps to reach the Sanctum. For us, there was absolutely no crowd and entry was smooth. However, we could see huge crowds coming in from the normal queue which was separate.

We stood in front of Ram Lalla (about 20 meters away) who was adorned with minimalistic jewellery. He was carrying a bow in one hand and an arrow on the other. The deity is beautiful and looks lonely standing alone without His consort. Neither was His favourite servant Hanuman seen in the vicinity. I guess this is because Ram is seen as a young child here. We had a long darshan and no one aggressively asked us to leave, as it happens in some other temples. After about 5 minutes or so, some other people came in and we reluctantly left the same way as we came. Once outside we realised that we could easily go back in as the security & movement arrangements were not fool proof. In any case, we decided not to go back in as we were satisfied with the long darshan.

We could see that the whole temple complex is huge and work is still under way. The total area of this complex is about 70 acres while the temple itself is about 3 acres. The rest of the area huge construction work is going on and, I guess it will take another couple of years before the entire construction activity will get completed.

We returned to our hotel where we had hot Poha for breakfast. The quantity was huge, the taste was good and the poha was slightly undercooked due to which we had to chew it hard (some exercise to our jaws !!). Then, once we came to know that our car had arrived at the parking area, we checked out of the hotel. Luckily, this time we got an electric Auto which dropped us to the parking area.

Our new car was also a Sedan (Swift Dzire) and in decent condition. Our driver was a youngish Pandit from Ayodhya who was freelancing as a driver due to the huge demand for drivers. He said his main activity is to take care of a family temple somewhere in Delhi.

Dasharath Samadhi

Before we departed from Ayodhya towards Varanasi, we also visited the place where Dasharath was cremated. There is a small temple here not frequented by many visitors but we came here as advised by someone. We were told that Ram is pleased when people visit the Samadhi area of His father. This place is about 15 kms away from Ayodhya. The Yogi government has recently restored this site by renovation of the existing temple, painting it with bright colours and clearing the area around.  The Padma Purana describes its spiritual significance. Visiting this place and reciting the Shani Stotra composed by Dasharath can bring relief from troubles caused by Saturn.

From here we left for Varanasi. On the way, we stopped for some tea & snacks at a roadside eatery. The going was smooth till we reached the airport area of Varanasi. Here we found the roads were closed due to a visit by CM Yogi who was returning after inspecting the facilities. This caused a delay of more than 90 minutes. Later, as we entered the main city, we encountered slow moving traffic. By the time we reached our hotel, it was around 8.30 p.m. I had already arranged for light snacks for dinner from a local lady who does this service for yatris. This was delivered to our hotel even before we arrived. Our car was stopped about 100 meters away from the hotel by the police - so we walked the rest of the way. The car was allowed inside after 11 p.m. and the driver parked it in the basement parking of the hotel. The name of our hotel was Golden Petals at Shivala Ghat area - we had stayed here earlier also and liked it as it was neat and clean with good proximity to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

After evening prayers, we had our dinner (idlis with sambhar & coconut chutney) and called it a day.

PS: We did not take any pictures on Day 3 - All pictures posted are from Google :-)