Ayodhya trip -some travel tips by a friend pilgrimage who visited this week.
We took Spicejet flight from Chennai to Ayodhya, which operates daily flights. Flying time is 2 1/2 hours.
Ayodhya airport, though termed as International airport, is in the early stages of achieving that status. The airport taxi is a rip off, charging Rs. 1000/- plus for going to Ram Janma Bhoomi. No Olas and Ubers and you depend on private taxi operators. Electric rickshaws are available, but they do not come upto the arrival gate and you end up strolling your luggage till the boundary gate
The food counter at the airport offers very minimal choice
Don't forget to check our daily money making machine in form of our intraday bank nifty option tips and be a part of the elite group who count more money to the bank to deposit.
Hotels to stay
The city is not geared up for the exploding pilgrim traffic as branded/ quality hotels are far and few. We booked a hotel through Booking. Com and realised that it is short of a home stay though the tariff was very steep. We stayed for 2 nights in this hotel and the only advantage was it was within 2 kms to the Ram Mandir. The commute to and from the hotel from Ram Mandir was through e rickshaws only and the traffic is chaotic
Due to heavy influx of pilgrims, they have closed the main roads leading to the Ram Mandir for vehicular traffic and only e rickshaws operate upto a drop off point near the temple
Ram Mandir
Awesome experience inside the temple as the sheer grandeur of the deity makes one spellbound. The queue is well regulated by police/ security end to end after you enter the main portal of Ram Mandir
There are counters to deposit your footwear and separate lockers to deposit your phone/handbag etc. They only allow you to take your wallet inside and nothing else- No water bottles too
Near single file queue is maintained from the screening area to completion of darshan. Wheel chair facility is available for the needy
The security persons are quite polite and there is no JARUGANDI a la Tirumala temple. You get a decent 10 secs view of the deity once you near the Garbha Graha. However since the deity is on a pedestal, you are able to see for a longer time window as the queue progresses to the Garba Griha.
The queuing system is good and nothing to crib about
There is a separate queue for the VIPs and people coming with some references, which queue is also used by the Pandas who solicit to offer you darshan for a fee.
We went multiple times for darshan during the 2 nights of our stay and at no point of time our end to end waiting exceeded 40 minutes. When we went in the evening around 9 pm , we finished darshan in 15 minutes. The temple closes at 9.30 pm
Morning, it starts from 6 am . There is a break for darshan between 1.30 pm and 4 pm or so
There is no dressing code prescribed
The total distance to be covered from start to finish will be 1.5 to 2 kms including the walking from the e rickshaws drop off point which may be kept in mind while taking elderly people . The wheel chair supply point is inside the temple only
Outside the temple compound on the main streets, it is deluge of humanity and non stop screaming honks of vehicles will put you off
If you are looking for organised food, better to arrange it in your hotel/ place of stay unless you can relish road side eateries, not so hygenic
In the Ram Mandir, at the moment it is only Main deity Shree Ram and Ram Lalla kept below him and there are no other deities installed yet. The temple construction work is still in progress
Do not miss the evening walk along Sarayu river front and you can witness the Sound and light show. Lata mangeshkar monument is splendid one on the river front . There are bathing spots in the river with only knee deep water level and change rooms are available. A dip in the river is not mandatory and it is purely one's choice
In the vicinity of Ram Mandir the following important places are there and one must visit them
1. Hanuman Garhi(ghadi)
This is the place Hanuman was stationed to look after Ayodhya and it's people after the Avathar of Rama comes to an end. It is on a high level. Huge rush and not well regulated. Near stampede situation prevails here
2. Badasthan
This is the palace of King Dasaratha where the idols of all four brothers-Rama, Lakshmana, Baratha and Shatrugna along with their respective spouses are housed
3. Kanak Bhavan
This was originally a Gold palace gifted by Queen Kaigeyi to Sita after Sita comes home as bride
4. Sarayu river front
My Conclusion
a) Plan your accommodation and food arrangements well
b) Be prepared to walk - 2 plus kilometers
c) If you plan to take elderly people, I would recommend to wait for an year or so till the hotel and transport infrastructure around the temple improves
You
should Trade Less But Trade Accurately & this is Achieved with our Tip.
