Ayodhya, India – Brijesh Pathak watched as half a million people gathered at the gates of a new temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram.
The shrine was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid a frenzy in which the nation's 1.4 billion people focused on Ayodhya, a temple town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Ram is mentioned in Hindu scriptures. It was the day after that. to be born.
Devotees came to catch a glimpse of the idol of Ram, installed in a grand structure built on the ruins of a 16th-century mosque that was demolished by right-wing mobs in 1992.
But as the crowd swelled, a stampede-like situation developed outside the temple premises, said Pathak, 32, the guesthouse manager. Buses and rickshaws were ordered off the streets, police barricades were erected and more security personnel were rushed to the small town, which cannot handle so many visitors.
“There was a rush of people. All I could see was endless heads,” Pathak told Al Jazeera.
Just a day ago, the city was India's most popular destination after Prime Minister Modi, with scores of Hindu saints, film stars and business leaders descending on it to inaugurate the controversial temple. I landed on the ground.
But as chief ministers and celebrities departed, Ayodhya was left dealing with a new reality. Ayodhya is currently not ready to receive such a large number of visitors, even though the city is expected to receive millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. businessmen and traders said.
Like the unfinished temple, which was dedicated ahead of national elections scheduled for March to May, the city is also rushing into its new role.
On January 23, after Prime Minister Modi and other prominent figures departed by plane, a large number of devotees broke through police barriers and entered the compound, injuring several pilgrims, some with broken bones. In response, the state's Hindu nationalist chief minister returned to Ayodhya with senior officials to manage the crisis. In New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi has banned his ministers from visiting temples for several weeks.
“It will take until at least 2027 for the temple to be completed,” an engineer working inside the temple told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.
Outside and in the city, a similar sense of unpreparedness is prevalent.
“We can't handle 500,000 people.”
At a roadside restaurant, several workers in T-shirts stood behind a stone oven in the freezing cold, flipping dough and juggling plates. This restaurant is recommended by locals as being relatively delicious in Ayodhya.
As orders piled up, workers became restless. Waiters started not listening to streaming customers. Sometimes it takes forever for your cup of tea to arrive.
“Ayodhya is not equipped to accommodate so many tourists,” Nand Kumar Gupta, president of a local trade union, told Al Jazeera. “We are a very small town and cannot handle a population of 500,000 people. No one trained us to take and manage 50 orders at the same time.”
Until the inauguration of the Ram Mandir, also known as the temple, Ayodhya primarily attracted tourists to religious fairs held during Hindu festivals. Many of the visitors were from nearby villages.
“Our restaurants are tailored to the needs and living standards of the villagers, not for people who need air conditioning in their restaurants,” said Mr. Gupta, 52. “We don't have the capacity to do that. There's no system in place,” he said.
The entire town in eastern Uttar Pradesh state has undergone a multimillion-dollar makeover as Prime Minister Modi's India Party (BJP), which controls both the federal and state governments, has positioned Ayodhya as a Hindu Vatican. .
However, Ayodhya's revamp of the Ram Mandir project has also put a lot of stress on local businesses, Mr. Gupta said.
“Nearly 4,000 stores were partially demolished.” [during the facelift] And 1,600 stores were completely destroyed,” he said. “Ayodhya's future economic prosperity is for big corporations, not us.”
“We'll be kicked out of town.”
In fact, the town, which will be developed as a major Hindu pilgrimage site in the future, has already attracted huge funds, with projects worth 8.5 billion Indian rupees (approximately $10 billion) sanctioned for its upliftment. There is.
Major hotel companies such as Marriott, Radisson, and Wyndham have contracts to build star hotels. The ad, featuring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, invites wealthy Indians to invest in homes and resorts on the banks of the Saryu River.
The town's railway station has been renovated. A new airport was built, but it was not equipped to park the dozen or so chartered planes carrying dignitaries that landed in Ayodhya on January 22.
“The government is combining religious sentiments, politics and economics here, and the local administration is doing its best to see this reality,” Gupta told Al Jazeera. “As they turn this city into a huge pilgrimage site, it looks like we're all going to end up being forced out of this city.”
But some small businesses are still trying to adapt to the new reality. Mr. Pathak, the guesthouse manager, recently renovated his property, adding 11 more rooms to his modest three-room business. Mosquitoes buzz in rooms with little ventilation.
As Pathak stood outside his guesthouse and looked out over the ever-growing crowd, he couldn't have been more excited. His guest house, located on the main street called Rum Pass, is his first and is booked for the next three days. “And we charge three times the price,” he said with a laugh.
Pilgrim Shivam Puri, 36, was on a two-night journey from southern India with his family to reach Ayodhya and get a glimpse of his divinity. He was among the crowd that broke through the temple barrier.
As she rushed inside the temple, Puri said she felt “something I had never felt before.”
However, he has no plans to stay overnight in Ayodhya. “We are leaving for Lucknow,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the state capital, which is about 136 kilometers (84 miles) away.
“I can't even find a proper dinner here, other than water with spices.”
