No one goes hungry in Ram’s city
Even as community feasts offer hot meals to devotees in every corner of Ayodhya, the RSS is set to to hold free kitchens also in nearby areas of east UP.
Lucknow: Community feasts (langar) for devotees are operational in every nook and corner of Ayodhya these days. Come January 22, when the Ram Temple is inaugurated, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is all set to hold free kitchens not only in Ayodhya but also nearby areas of east UP.
“We are holding several free kitchens in Gonda. Similar free meals will be given in many other parts of east UP,” said Kripa Shankar Tiwari, an RSS functionary from Gonda.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust too are coordinating many free kitchens.
The new corridors in Ayodhya, which are the centres of attraction, including Bhakti Path, Janmabhoomi Path and Ram Path, are dotted with stalls offering free meals.
“From 12.20 pm, as consecration rituals begin in Ayodhya, recitation of Ramayana and Hanuman Chalisa would start, especially in all temples in and around Ayodhya. Thereafter, post consecration ceremony, free kitchens would be held in most of the villages,” another RSS leader said.
In Ayodhya’s Karsevakpuram that was set up in 1991 in memory of temple volunteers (karsevaks ) who died in the police firing in 1990, VHP veteran Rajendra Pankaj has been tasked with management of free kitchens – over 45 of them across Ayodhya and counting .
“The langars, over 40 of them under my control alone, would give a feel of the country’s diversity with different stalls offering food from their states. The idea is that all those who visit Ayodhya don’t go back hungry,” said Vishva Hindu Parishad central secretary Rajendra Pankaj.
VHP’s Ayodhya-based spokesman Sharad Sharma said tonnes of rations had been donated by people from across the country for the free kitchens .
“People have voluntarily come forward for donating food grains. Some have contributed by sending dry fruits. A seer from Rajasthan came all the way on his bullock cart with ‘desi (pure) ghee,” said Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai.
Besides these free langars that are being organised or coordinated by RSS or VHP, the temples of Ayodhya too are pitching in with their bit.
Many of them, like the famous Maniram Das Chhawani, run free kitchens round the year while those in Kanak Bhawan run kitchens at subsidised rates throughout the year. Then there are popular food outlets like ‘Amma ki Rasoi’ near Kanak Bhawan where the waiting list is long due to the mix of excellent food at subsidised rates.
“Our focus is mostly on security personnel whom we serve food on priority but all are welcome ,” said the owner of Amma ki Rasoi while admitting that the number of free kitchens that are being run across the temple town have reduced the waiting list.
The menu is rich, diverse and expanding. “We haven’t put a bar on anyone as all are free to do their bit in their own way,” said Pankaj. At Lata Mangeshkar Chowk, that has emerged as a popular selfie point after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath took selfies here, a stall was offering ‘gur (jaggery)’ from Muzaffarnagar. A little distance away, another stall was offering free tea and coffee. Inside Karsevakpuram, a community kitchen is running and so is a stall serving tea and cookies.
“There are mobile kitchens too in operation. Some people have come with an equipment that prepares hundreds of idlis at the same time,” Pankaj said.
Gauri Shankar Sewa Dal from Punjab is poised to set up its free kitchen offering the winter delicacy of ‘Makke di roti, sarson da saag’ to all those visiting them till February end. Similarly, the Mahavir Temple Trust is running ‘Ram ki Rasoi’.
“There are so many free kitchens that in many cases the hotel rooms are all full but their kitchens aren’t as busy as they would have been had these community meals not been organised,” a hotel owner said.
