AYODHYA, INDIA, January 27, 2024 (Swarajya, by Swati Goel Sharma): As the sun began to set on 22 January, I exited the just-dedicated Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. Passing through an ornately decorated gate about 328 yards from the temple’s inner sanctum, the garbha griha, I saw queues of tens of thousands of devotees lining both sides of the road. Policemen were omnipresent, trying to prevent the crowds from spilling onto the roads. No auto rickshaws were operating, and so I proceeded to walk to my hotel, located about as mile away. In a gesture that left me bewildered, individuals from the queue stepped out to touch my feet. A man explained, “Having had darshan of Ram Lalla, you are divine to us.” It was at that moment that the enormity of being fortunate to be given an invitation to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony dawned on me. A limited number of guests were granted entry to the temple that historic day. The sea of devotees on the road, with their boundless devotion for the temple and its Deity, Ram Lalla, saw divinity in a mere mortal like me simply because I had caught a glimpse of his murti.
Much more of this marvelous first-person account, along with several photos at source.