Monsoon fest in Ayodhya: Ram Lalla placed on 21-kg silver swing first time

AYODHYA: Ram Lalla was resplendent on a silver ‘hindola’ (swing) for the first time on sawan ‘panchami’ (5th day of monsoon month of Hindu calendar) in Ramjanmabhoomi on Friday.
The swing carved out from 21kg pure silver was donated by devotees to Ram temple Trust, which received huge quantities of silver, gold and ornaments during the crowdfunding drive. Temple Trust secretary Champat Rai said, deities will remain on the silver swing till ‘purnima’ (full moon night) of August 22, when the festival of Raksha Bandhan is celebrated.
Every year, ‘sawan jhula’ festival begins in Ayodhya from ‘sawan shukla tritya’ and deities are placed on swing also called ‘hindola’ or ‘jhula’, and carried to Mani Parvat temple, where according to belief, Lord Ram’s wife Sita would visit the holy mound during monsoon and use the swing.
After over 500 years, Ram Lalla’s darbar is reliving its splendour after being placed under a tent for almost 30 years, said chief priest of the temple, Mahant Satyendra Das.
Earlier this week, the Trust threw open the viewing gallery for devotees to get a glimpse of the ongoing construction activity.
Trust member Anil Mishra said the temple construction work is being expedited and they have already filled 29 of 45 layers of compacted concrete in the foundation.