The Jammu and Kashmir government joined more than half of the country in enjoying the half-day holiday on the occasion of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Many interesting developments were directly linked to the development in Uttar Pradesh.
Following the holiday order, another administration directive declared that liquor shops would remain closed for 36 hours given the consecration ceremony.
“Dry Day is hereby declared on the 22nd day of January in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” Excise Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma in an order issued on Sunday. “No sale of liquor shall be allowed from the retail vends on this day in the Union territory.” This order kept the wine and liquor shops under lock and key till January 23, 9 am.
Special Puja
There was a special Puja at the Shakarachrya Temple in Srinagar coinciding with the main event at Ayodhya. It was a few thousand strong gathering in the historical temple and the puja continued for a few hours.
The devotees who attended the special prayers at the Zabarwan Hills temple were mostly visitors. The prayers were followed by a langar for the devotees, they said.
Earlier, there was a puja event in Lal Chowk as well. Special prayers were also held at the Hanuman temple on the banks of the Jhelum River. A havan was also organised at the Sun temple at Mattan in Anantnag district as part of the celebrations, reports appearing in the media said
A Bustling Jammu
Jammu, the city of the temple, remained active very visibly for many days in anticipation of the event. For many days, the followers remained busy installing saffron flags with pictures of the sprawling Ram temple at the entrances of their homes, offices, shops and some of the public institutions.
“Emotions are running high from rich to poor and among all others while some even lacked words to express their heart,” Jammu newspaper reported. “RA Yadav, 49, a scrap buyer from Bihar had fixed the flag of Lord Rama on his bicycle while he moved from street to street to buy old newspapers, iron and plastic scrap etc from households to sell the same to some dealer for earning a meagre amount to eke out a livelihood.”
Apsara Road Market Association distributed about 108 kg Halwa Prasad among all to celebrate the consecration ceremony. “Firecrackers shall also be busted, earthen lamps will be lit at our shops in the evening and a music system will also be put in place to play the devotional songs in the praise of Bhagwan Ram,” Anil Kohli, president, its president told the newspaper.
In anticipation of the ceremony, Ram temple flags, badges, and shoulder cloth with religious pictures were sold in the markets.
The activity came within a day after the trustee of Jammu and Kashmir’s Dharmarth Trust (DT) and former Minister Ajatshatru Singh invited people to participate in the three-day grand celebrations at the Raghunath Ji Temple in Jammu. The celebrations started on January 20 and concluded with the main function in Utter Pradesh.
