Preparations are in full swing for Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, regarded as first one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Mokshdayini Sapt Puris) for Hindus. With thousands expected to attend the ceremony on January 22, accommodations are either sold out or available with extremely high tariff.
The local administration has enacted stringent security measures for the high-profile attendees. Last month, the state government had decreed that all hotel bookings made without official invitations from the temple trust or government passes for the surrounding dates should be cancelled. The state government had clarified that only people invited by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Trust, journalists and government functionaries on duty can enter Ayodhya a day before and on the day of the ceremony.
However, a quick web crawl and phone calls to hotels in Ayodhya tells a different story. Rooms are available though the tariff has been hiked exponentially.
Exactly two weeks before January 22, accommodation search for Ayodhya on booking.com began with this alert: 77% of places to stay on your dates are unavailable. The travel platform has listed accommodation options including Hotels: 20, Apartments: 12, Entire homes & apartments: 12, Homestays: 7, Guest Houses: 6. Most accommodations have hiked their tariff manifold, some as much as 200 times the regular rate.
All rates mentioned below are per night one room/two adults tariff (excluding taxes) for January 22, 2024 (rates applicable at the time of writing):
- Cygnett Collection KK Hotel Ayodhya: Rs 62,565. Regular Rate: Rs 3,856
- OYO Home Chaa Bhaiya Homestay: Rs 5,470. Regular Rate: Rs 1,000
- OYO Home Shree Ram Palace Homestay: Rs 6,086. Regular Rate: Rs 1,188
- Premshi Guest House: Rs 9,500. Regular Rate: Rs 1,665
- Neelkanth Hotel: Rs 20,799 . Regular Rate: Rs 2,362
- Shree Ramlala Sadan Devsthanaam Hotel: Rs 18,000. Regular Rate: Rs 3,000
- Ayodhya Inn: Rs 45,000. Regular Rate: Rs 1,050
- Taraji Resort Hotel & Restaurant: Rs 22,000. Regular Rate: Rs 8,000
- Park Inn by Radisson Ayodhya that is 6.9 kms from the Temple is completely booked for January 22 (regular per night tariff is Rs 7,560).
The Ramayana Hotel: Regular Rate: Rs 12,913. No booking available for January 22 - Ramlala Niwas: Rs 7,810. Regular Rate: Rs 2,738
According to a hotelier who prefers anonymity, several hotels that are located in close proximity of the Temple have been ‘in a way taken over by the local administration’ from January 20 to January 23, 2024. Essentially, only anyone who has been ‘invited’ can be allocated a room only after the administration gives a nod to the name of the ‘invited person’. ‘The administration does not have a cap on the tariff but it cannot be exaggerated,” said the hotelier whose 18-room property is barely 300 metres from Ram ki Paidi and a kilometre from the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple.
Though hoteliers are cashing the demand, Shashidhar Mishra of Arvindam Sewa Sansthan has not hiked the usual rate of Rs 3,500-5,000 a night for a room in his 3-room villa. All the rooms were booked in December. “I cannot raise the tariff, I do not even know how to do it. When people called for booking, I said yes,” said Mishra who has lived in Ayodhya all his life. Speaking in pure Hindi, Mishra sincerely recommended the best eateries in town and emphasised on the “importance of being earnest and having no malice & greed in the heart.” I had called Mishra to seek information about accommodation but our long conversation skewed entirely towards faith, goodness and abstinence from malice and meat.
Adarsh Kaushal, owner of Raghunandan Inn, has rooms available in his 20-room Inn for January 22 - a deluxe room for Rs 20,000 (usual rate in Rs 1,700+ a night) and a large hall with bedding for 42-50 people that is being booked for Rs 1,000 a night (usual rate is Rs 600 for a bedding or Rs 20,000 for the entire hall). “My Inn is next to the event venue and you can see everything from here,” added Kaushal, who aware of the growing demand for rooms in Ayodhya, is building another hotel.
According to Shyam Sundar, Accountant of Manas Bhawan, all rooms are booked for the night of January 22 by the individuals who had paid to construct the rooms in the Bhawan run by a Trust. Several years ago, individuals had paid for the construction of rooms in the 20-year old Manas Bhawan and for January 22, these donors have been given booking preference. On regular days, the Bhawan rents out room for Rs 1,600 a night to non-trustees also.
Tent City Ayodhya: A tent city has been set up at Ayodhya's new Teerthakshetrapuram which includes six tubewells, six kitchen houses, and a hospital with ten beds. Around 150 doctors will be serving at the hospital in rotation. The tent city has two locations:
1. Brahma Kund (0 Km from Ram Mandir, Behind Bramh Kund Gurudwara): It has 30 air-conditioned tents with beautiful interiors, vegetarian regional cuisines, and an array of amenities. Tariff: Premium AC Tents: Starting from Rs.11,500 only.
2. Saryu (3.5 Km from Ram Mandir, Ram Katha Park, Ayodhya, Manjha Kala).
Tent City Booking: info@tentcityayodhya.com; Call: +91 9674 123 123
YatraDham: Yatradham.org (its tagline is: Stay Religious, Stay Blessed) that lists dharamshslas and hotels is sold out from January 19 to January 26, 2024.
AirBnB: AirBnB has 30 listed accommodation options for Ayodhya. For check-in on January 22 and check-out on January 23, the options range from a guest house for Rs 6,847, a room for Rs 7,988, room in Banarasi Guest House for Rs 22,000, a luxurious bungalow for Rs 57,509, Hotel Ram Ayodhya for Rs 5,500 a night. Hotel rooms are also available in Faizabad, a town barely 6 kilometres from Ayodhya.
Entry Rules on January 22:
Only those with valid invites from Ram temple trust or on government duty would be allowed to enter Ayodhya on January 22.
No one will be allowed to carry cell phones, purses or any electronic gadget. Not even remote controlled car keys & ear plugs/pods.
All attendees will have to reach the program venue before 11 am.
Though there is no official dress code, men and women are expected to wear ethnic outfits.
Aarti: Shringar Aarti: 06:30 am, Bhog Aarti: 12 noon, Sandhya Aarti: 07:30 pm. Book Aarti pass on the official website of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (srjbtkshetra.org). Due to security reasons, a maximum of 30 people will be permitted to attend each Aarti.
Local Transport: Electric buses are available on the town's Dharma Path and Ram Path. Additionally, 100 electric buses would commence operations from January 15.
Chartered flights: Ayodhya airport is getting inundated with requests for landing of chartered flights on January 22. Private jets such as Dassault Falcon 2000, Embraer 135 LR & Legacy 650, Cessna, Beechcraft Super King Air 200, and Bombardier will be allowed to land. The airport has eight bays (aprons) capable of parking single aisle 200-seater aircraft and smaller ones.
Where/What to eat: Must eat in Ayodhya includes Ram Laddoo, Malpua, Thandai, Litti Chokha, Peda, Tehri, Kachori Sabzi.
Sita Ki Rasoi: Located within the Ram Mandir complex, the Sita Ki Rasoi or Sita's Kitchen, is believed to have been where Sita, also known as the Goddess Annapurna, cooked for all mankind.
Kanak Rasoi: Everything in this restaurant is made in pure ghee.
Chandra Sweets: Known for Khurchan pedal made of cow’s milk and cooked a special way. For nearly 30 years, Chandra Sweets has been sending sweets to the Ram Temple as an offering. According to its owner, Sumit Gupta, everyday nearly 2.5 kilograms of peda is sent to the temple.
Guptaji’s: Breakfast of dahi-jalebi & poori sabzi.
Maurya Mishtaan Bhandar: Dahi jalebi
Getting There:
Distance from Ayodhya
Lucknow: 130 kms; Varanasi: 200 kms; Allahabad: 160 kms; Gorakhpur: 140 kms; Delhi: 636 kms.
By Air: Ayodhya Airport: Approximately 15 kilometres from Ayodhya's main city. Other nearby airports are Gorakhpur Airport (GOP, 118 kms), Lucknow Amausi Airport (LKO, 125 kms).
By Train: There are regular trains to Ayodhya from several major cities of the country.
Railway Stations: Ayodhya Junction (AY); Faizabad Junction (FD)
By Road: Buses are frequently available from Lucknow, Delhi, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and Allahabad.
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