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Even as Ayodhya is gearing up for the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony on Monday, citizens, especially those living in cooperative housing societies in Pimpri, are also gearing up to celebrate the occasion with enthusiasm and gusto. They have lined up a series of events throughout the day meant for the participation of scores of residents, including women and children.
“We have 1,300 housing societies as our members. And each will be organising a series of events to celebrate the inauguration of the Ram Mandir. In fact, the celebrations have already started,” said Sanjeev Sangale, who heads the Chikhali-Moshi Pimpri-Chinchwad Housing Societies Federation.
Sangale said the societies have planned Ram Lalla procession, maha prasad, maha aarti and abhishek, and flags have been put up on the premises. As for donations, he added, “It is voluntary, not compulsory. Citizens are donating funds as they wish. From Rs 100 to Rs 10,000, the donations vary from person to person. Many pay Rs 500, some even up to Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000,” he said.
A resident of the G K Palacio Society in Moshi, Sangale said, “In our society, there are 500 flats. We have not so far collected any donations from the members. We are spending from the maintenance funds. Later, we will collect the amount from the members.” He said that on Sunday, they will be taking out a rath yatra. “We expect over one lakh people to participate in it,” he said.
Though most events in the city are being spearheaded by the BJPthe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Sangale said, “Our events have been organised by us. There is no interference from political parties. Ram belongs to everyone….”
At Roseland society in Pimple Saudagar, there are 1,000 flats. As many as 12 events will be held in the society throughout the day, starting at 7 am and ending at 8 pm. “January 22 will be like a festival. Our society is gearing up for several events on that day. From early morning to late in the evening, the entire society will be busy celebrating the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya by organising an array of events… The main event is conducting a puja like the one in Ayodhya. We have two temples, dedicated to Hanuman and Krishna, on our premises where the puja will be conducted,” said Chandan Chaurasia, a society member.
Vaishali Deshpande, another member of the Roseland society, said, “Our events will start around 7 am when we will conduct the abhishek which will be similar to one conducted for Lord Ram during his rajyabhishek. This will be the main attraction of the slew of events that we have planned. This will go on for two hours. After that, we have two members who had taken part in kar seva in 1992. These kar sevaks will share their experience of that day when then UP chief minister had said that his government had made tight security arrangements and won’t allow kar seva to take place….”
Deshpande said the society has made donations voluntary for the event. “This event is being spearheaded by the RSS and VHP. They have instructed us that donations should not be compulsory but voluntary. From Rs 11 to Rs 11,000, people are donating as per their wish,” she said.
Kailas Jadhav, a resident of Dapodi, said, “Our local mandal is gearing up to conduct puja, aarti, maha prasad and bhajan on January 22. We are expecting participation from the society as well as the chawl members in the Dapodi area.”
Ganesh Rao, who lives in Sector 28, Akurdi-Pradhikaran, said, “We live in a bungalow area. But I don’t see activity in our area regarding the Ayodhya temple. I think basically the events are taking place in housing societies.”
