Ayodhya: The Ministry of Tourism is conducting a survey on the turnout of devotees visiting Ayodhya during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26.
Since the Kumbh Mela began, more than 13 crore devotees have visited Ram Janmabhoomi. A six-member team from the Ministry reached Ayodhya on Wednesday for conducting the survey. Meanwhile, 14 members of Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi's family visited the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya yesterday.
Regional tourism officer Rajendra Prasad Yadav said information available from Kumbh Mela states that over 52 crore people have taken holy bath in Triveni Sangam. Out of this, nearly 25 percent people have visited Ayodhya and 10 percent of the visitors are NRIs, he said.
It has been revealed that after visiting the Kumbh Mela, the devotees went to Varanasi and then came to Ayodhya for Ram Lalla's darshan. The pilgrims included residents of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Assam.
According to Yadav, bookings are underway in around 1200 homestays and 200 hotels in Ayodhya and rooms are available at Rs 2000 to Rs 3000. "In this survey, an evaluation is being done on the hotel rates along with the facilities provided to the devotees," the regional tourism officer said.
Meanwhile, 14 members of Yogi's family reached Ayodhya on Tuesday. Amid special security, they visited the Ram Janmabhoomi complex at around 3:00 pm and took darshan of Ram Lalla.
Dr Anil Mishra, member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust and arrangement in-charge Gopalji Rao welcomed the group by presenting Lord Ram's photograph, 'Ang Vastra' and prasad. Yogi's family members, including his newly married niece, son-in-law and sister, left for Lucknow after visiting the temple.
Notably, Ayodhya witnessed the highest turnout of devotees when Mauni Amavasya celebrations were held during the Maha Kumbh Mela. The number of visitors has been significantly high during the last two days. From Tuesday morning, devotees were seen queuing up from Rampath to reach the Ram Mandir but the crowd decreased in the evening.
CO Ayodhya Rajesh Tiwari said like other days, a large number of devotees reached Ayodhya and visited the temples on Tuesday.
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