Assignment | 5 Lakh Devotees on Day 1: Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir May See More Annual Pilgrims Than Mecca or the Vatican
On the first day the rebuilt temple was available to worshipers, as many as five lakh visitors visited the Ram Temple, perhaps setting a record for the most people to visit any Indian holy site in a single day.
The government had anticipated that Ram Temple would see around one lakh people every day, but this went well over that. After the initial exhilaration, the rush may eventually settle at around 1-3 lakh devotees every day, with a greater number on the weekends. This might equate to more than five crore pilgrims visiting Ayodhya annually, surpassing the number of pilgrims visiting Mecca, the Vatican, and other major Indian holy sites like Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh.
The epicenter of a pilgrimage boom in Uttar Pradesh’s economy is expected to be the new sacred triangle of Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Prayagraj. The Ram Temple will be finished by the end of this year, and after the Prime Minister’s most recent orders, construction on the whole complex is anticipated to go more quickly and be finished by the middle of 2025.
January to March of 2025 will see the Prayagraj Mahakumbh. In Varanasi, the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on the Ganga side already sees a lot of people.
With great access to the three holy sites by air, train, and highways like Vande Bharat, travelers may choose to combine visits to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Sangam in Prayagraj, the Ganga in Varanasi, and the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
This may end up being the main motivator behind UP’s goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy in the next years. According to a report by SBI Research, Ayodhya might play a significant role in Uttar Pradesh’s potential tax collection of Rs 25,000 crore in 2024–2025 since devotees go there from all over the globe in addition to India. This year, UP may get over Rs 4 lakh crore only from tourism.
Based on current projections, Ayodhya may exceed both Vatican City and Mecca in terms of the number of visiting devotees. This is assuming the Yogi Adityanath administration steps up its effort to improve Ayodhya’s infrastructure and lodging options over the next several months.
Every year, 2.5 crore devotees go to Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh, a comparable number travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and over 90 lakh people visit the Vatican.
Other popular tourist destinations include the Taj Mahal, which draws 70 lakh visitors annually, and Vaishno Devi in J&K, which gets 80 lakh visitors annually.
After spending almost ten days in Ayodhya, News18 noticed that a number of new hotels had appeared to handle the influx of pilgrims. There are now just a few ashrams, Dharamshala, and homestays in the town, but considering the volume of devotees coming here, many more would be required. The town’s internal traffic system has been improved, but on Tuesday it became apparent that there was a backlog of five lakh pilgrims attempting to reach the temple via the Ram Path. Because electric buses and battery carts could not handle the influx of people in Ayodhya, many were forced to walk several kilometers.
To ensure that the chances become achievements and the potential is realized, the UP government must prepare for this task. The little village of Ayodhya has several opportunities.
