Prayagraj: With the date of consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla’s idol in Ayodhya inching closer, authorities of religious, spiritual and social organisations are busy in setting up pandals on Mela campus for Ram Katha. Organisations have sought permission to set up big and small pandals for katha vachak as 54 days Magh Mela is all set to begin from January 15.Mela authorities claimed to have received over 400 applications to have special pandal for Ram Katha on the mela campus.
Around 4,000 organisations are setting up their pandals in six sectors on Mela campus. Saints from Chitrakoot, Mathura, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Kashi, Haridwar and Prayag will be delivering religious discourses at the camps of prominent seers and saints. ADM (Mela) Vivek Chaturvedi told TOI, “Katha (story telling) by prominent saints and seers has been a routine affair during every Magh Mela and this time, many religious and spiritual organisations have sought adequate space to set up their pandal for Ram Katha. He said, “We have appealed heads of religious and spiritual organisations to follow safety guidelines, sitting arrangement and volume of audiences during story telling so that there should not be any sort of chaos”.
Ram Katha, Krishna Lila and Ramlila have always been major attraction among devotees and pilgrims at camps of prominent seers during the annual religious fair on the banks of Ganga.
National president of Akhil Bharatiya Dandi Sanyasi Parishad, Pithadhishwar Swami Brahmashram Maharaj told TOI, “With the date of consecration of Lord Ram’s idol inching closer, devotees have a unique craze for Ram Katha. Moreover, katha-vachak groups from Mathura, Vrindavan, Kashi and other cities are likely to arrive sangam city to deliver Ram Katha.