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The idol of Ram Lala at the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya is decorated with garlands. File | Photo credit: ANI
For 52-year-old Vinay Shukla, the visit to Ayodhya in the second week of March was not as pleasant as he expected. A resident of Satna in Madhya Pradesh and an ardent devotee of Lord Ram, he felt he had been overcharged to visit the Ram temple through a local tour guide hired by hotel staff.
“I heard that for Ram Lalla’s special darshan, five people paid Rs 2,000 each, but later I came to know that no special darshan was arranged through payment,” Shukla Shukla) said. He was new to the city of pilgrims.
Mr. Shukla is not alone. After its consecration ceremony on January 22, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya is seeing an average of 100,000-150,000 pilgrims every day and the city’s infrastructure and tourism ecosystem are still catching up. Rahul Pandey of Ayodhya Guide Services said: “The number of tourists is huge and people from neighboring areas know about the city, but outsiders face some difficulties as some locals try to Take advantage of this opportunity.”
In addition to promoting infrastructure development, devotees are also demanding a dedicated awareness campaign from the government. “There is no special darshan arranged by paying a fee or any special pass in the temple. If you have heard of paying for darshan, it might be a scam. The Mandir management has nothing to do with this,” Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Trust said said after receiving multiple complaints.
“We booked our accommodation through a local agent. We were charged Rs 6,000 per person but the price of the hotel room was below par. Some people booked through the Holy Ayodhya app and they paid less than what we paid Half the cost and enjoy a comfortable stay,” said Raghu Veer Chaudhary of Bareilly. In view of the demand, many budget hotels were charging Rs 1,200-1,400 per day before the temple opened, but now prices have increased by 25%.
Many tourists from outside the state are not aware of the Holy Ayodhya app, which has been launched by the Uttar Pradesh government specifically for religious tourists visiting Ayodhya. The app aims to provide affordable boarding options to pilgrims, the fees of which are regulated by the district authorities. Mr Pandey added: “Many tourists are unaware of these options and therefore hire travel agents who charge extra.”
Locals say the city’s hotel industry is still in its infancy and took off only after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ayodhya temple in November 2019. They hope the industry will develop more high-quality, affordable options over the next 12 to 18 months. There are currently hundreds of hotels, hostels and homestays catering to the needs of devotees. Following the recent global investor summit, construction of 142 hotels has started, including luxury hotels such as Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Indian Hotels Corporation Limited (IHCL). At the 2023 summit, 102 investment expressions worth approximately Rs 18,000 crore were signed in the Ayodhya tourism industry.
But in the meantime, tourists are demanding government support to boost tourism.
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