Warning: No idle worship allowed

A visit to the most guarded temple in the country is a daunting experience.

Devotees who flock to Ayodhya are greeted by hawk-eyed securitymen, about 4,000 of them, deployed in every nook and corner of the disputed site. The idol of Ram, placed under a soiled canopy, is open to devotees every morning between seven and ten, and between three and six in the afternoon. Visitors have to pass through several security checkpoints before they can have a darshan of Ram lalla.

The checks begin nearly half a km from the temple site. After negotiating a steel barricade, visitors are made to walk through a metal detector. The security tightens as they proceed. There are 400 men and 200 women of the CRPF, 2,700 men of the Provincial Armed Constabulary and 200 of the Rapid Action Force keeping vigil for potential troublemakers. A new batch of policemen arrives in Ayodhya every three months: the idea is to prevent the cops from developing a 'bond' with the place and its residents.

Unknown to most devotees the cops are keeping a watch on them from towers to ensure that no one breaks the security ring. They are assisted by closed-circuit television with cameras installed at vantage points. When the devotees arrive at a second metal detector they are told to deposit all their belongings. Cameras, combs, pens and even matchboxes are a no-no beyond this point: visitors may keep only their wallets. As the visitors near the idol, the automatic gun-toting cops of the Central forces come into view. This is the sensitive zone: police sniffer dogs, in fact, scour the area each morning for explosives.

The devotees are frequently told to refrain from standing in front of the canopy for long. A quick darshan, and they are asked to move on, after accepting prasad from a pundit.The government is spending more than Rs 5 crore a month on the security arrangements. Most of the devotees find it stifling, though. "Frequent searches and excessive security rob us of a peaceful darshan," complained Diwakar Gupta, a businessman from Gorakhpur.

Added Nitin Dubey from Sitapur, "The expenditure on the security forces should be diverted for providing clean drinking water, repairing the roads and improving the power supply in Ayodhya." After the darshan, the devotees take a circuitous route to a heavily-guarded exit, and walk past a fire tender and Home Guard contingents on the ready. For most of them it is an occasion to remember, for many reasons.
AJAY UPRETY in Lucknow , June 1998