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As Lord Ram's temple is set for a grand opening, the banks of the river in Ayodhya erupted with celebration, reports Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com.
Photographs and Video: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
Rishi Valmiki's epic poem tells us that Ram, prince of Ayodhya, crossed the Sarayu river to commence his exile, and returned 14 years later via the same river bank.
As Lord Ram's temple is set for a grand opening on Monday, the banks of the river in Ayodhya erupted with celebration on Sunday evening, the last before he returns in style to his city.
Alongside the city, the riverfront too has been getting a major facelift. The Sarayu plays an important role in the seventh avatar of Vishnu's life, more than any other river in any of the other avatars' lives, from which stems its importance, compensating for the fact that it is neither as majestic as the Ganga nor as expansive as the Godavari.
Those who came anticipating the daily aarti routine on the banks of the Sarayu on Sunday evening, however, were in for a disappointment.
Instead, different television news channels had taken over various segments on the right bank and were staging curated programmes meant to keep the throngs engaged, if not participating.
A news channel recently in the news for its promoter's exit had lecterns as if for a television debate, and the public was happy taking selfies behind them, a la talking heads.
Its neighbour had Baba Ramdev, the famous yoga guru and wellness entrepreneur, who kept the crowds regaled with his ripostes to questions on the Ram temple inauguration.
The most newsworthy thing he said was that with Ayodhya getting Ram back, it will soon be the turn the of Kashi and Mathura shrines to be restored to Hindus.
Another curated show had a band of saffron flag waving youths dancing to catchy hymns to Lord Ram, and it was a standing room only performance, with some of the audience even dancing along on the steps.
But the best received of all the performances was the one by young men in white sleeveless banians and pants, banging on percussion instruments and cymbals, etc.
As this one wound up began the laser and music show from the left bank, sending the crowds into raptures.
Families were there in strength, including elders and toddlers. Kamini had come with her mother-in-law, mother and 4-year-old child, but had originally planned to come there on Monday.
"Since VIPs will be there I was not sure how the security will be, so I came today itself," she said.
Amit, Mukesh and friends, all septuagenarians, would not miss it for anything.
We have been waiting for so long for the god to come home, how can we not be here, Amit said, speaking for his friends.
The left bank of the Sarayu had no popular event to draw the crowds, only the laser light and sound show.
A few families were seen taking selfies against the river, relieved no doubt that they didn't have to jostle past the crowds to get anywhere.
Even police personnel on duty could be seen yielding to the selfie bug.
After a while, as the right bank piped down the left bank took things a notch higher, with a smoke and light show which had the crowds roaring and the paparazzi longing for more.
The Sarayu banks are, to use a familiar term, a work in progress. In some places the main path was not complete, in others the steps were unevenly done, and the lighting wasn't anything to write home about.
For the hungry and tired, there were enough options, with vendors allowed to sell their local food items, Plus eateries on the left bank were doing roaring business, and even boasted a Sulabh.
For the spiritually hungry, however, these things may not be enough.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com