Year 2025, the year of Mahakumbh, a historical, cultural, spiritual and a traditional event. An event of astronomical significance that meets faith and devotion. An event that brought the "divided society" of Bharat, together. No one would have thought that it would turn into such a sensation, a trend, a festival that united the nation. People from farthest of places thronged to take a dip at the confluence of holiest of rivers; Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

I never imagined that I would take part in it. A group of close friends from school decided to make the trip to Ayodhya, Prayagraj and Kashi, city of Mahadev.

To this auspicious pilgrimage, one of my friends made all the planning. He took care of travel tickets, homestay, food etc. I was sceptical about making this trip. Continuous persuasion changed my mind. I should thank them for insisting me. Otherwise, I would have missed what would have been a core memory for life, a lifetime experience. Plan was made and we were ready.

Every day, we were hearing disappointing news over social media about the struggles of people at Kumbh. Possible dangers like stampede, drowning etc. But the news could not deter us, we were prepared to face all the hardships that might come on our way.

My 1st ever trip to North India started on Friday evening, 21st of February. We took a flight from Hyderabad to Lucknow, the capital of UP. After a pleasant flight, we arrived at Lucknow airport at 10 PM at night. As scheduled, two cabs were waiting to take us to Ayodhya.

As the ride started, my heart filled with high emotions. No sooner the cab exited the airport and took the highway than my excitement turned into fear. The cab driver was driving like zombies are chasing us. I was not sure if I must appreciate his driving skills or condemn his rash driving. Nevertheless, I was terrified but kept mum. We stopped at a restaurant for dinner after 2 hours of cab journey.

Post dinner, I checked with my friends if the driver was driving rash. They felt the same. So, we requested both drivers to slow down. They obliged and drove carefully. There wasn’t as much traffic as we expected. Late dinner made us sleepy. My friends started napping. I closed my eyes too, but sleep evaded me. So, I started listening to Ram bhajans on YouTube. With earphones on, swaying to Bhajans, I started to think about Ayodhya city.

Could it really be like it is described in the epic "Valmiki Ramayan"?

I got lost in my imagination. I did not realize we reached the borders of Ayodhya already. The colourful city welcomed us with flags, streetlights designed in the shape of Sun, Bow & Arrow, colourful paintings, statues of Rama and various other Gods. Everything aspect of a Tourist city it had.

The driver took a turn from the main road and drove into the city. I was puzzled looking at the streets and houses. They reminded me of the village I grew up. It was like I travelled back in time. The houses and streets were from the 90s era. I exclaimed, “I thought we reached Ayodhya!”.

The driver said, “This is Ayodhya, sir. I am taking you to your home stay.”

I realized that Ayodhya is still an upcoming city waiting to be developed or we could be in the olden parts of the city. Anyways, my perception turned out to be false. We checked-in to the home stay at midnight, got into our beds and slipped into sleep in no time.

We woke up at the first light, got ready and left for Darshan. As we stepped out, we noticed some people staring and giggling at us. Why? Because of our lungis !!. All of us were wearing white lungis and cotton shirts. The 2 of us had sunglasses too. Typical South Indian style!!

We smiled and continued our Morning "Lungi Walk!!"

En route to temple, every kind of police force was deployed. Dog squad, Bomb squad, Anti-terrorist squad, Disaster Rapid force, RPF, Traffic police, Home guards etc. Everyone vigilant on duty. The crowd was walking in a single direction towards the temple. However, people were still getting lost, and loudspeakers were continuously announcing about missing people, about every minute. Witnessing all this we moved forward.

As we reached the starting point of the Queue, a guy applied sandalwood paste on our foreheads for 50/- rupees and put “Jai Shri Ram” impression. Soon we had to leave footwear at a Govt designated counters and go through the security checkpoint. We crossed the checkpoint, 30 minutes more walking and there you go, the grand Ram Mandir.

As phones were allowed inside, people started taking pictures. I was taking selfies at random places but forgot to take one here, at the entrance. Missed the chance.

Granite pillars, walls, ceilings had miniscule idols sculpted on them. They were beautiful and mesmerising. Each one of them was sculpted to perfection. Architecture was feast to eyes. I cannot describe enough using words. It was Otherworldly.

As we were getting closer to idol of Ram Lalla, crowd got restless and started pushing and rushing to look at him. Everyone started shouting “Jai Shree Ram”. Televisions were placed in all corners broadcasting live Darshan of Ram Lalla. As we walked past this, I could see him from a distance. As we were nearing Ram Lalla, chants increased and got louder. Every eye was fixed on Ram lalla, every soul was lost in devotion, every mind was focused on him. I was free from all the wishes, troubles, only one voice reverberated in my head “Jai Shree Ram. Jai Shree Ram, Jai Shree Ram”.

I was shouting at the top of my lungs. As I stood in his presence, my voice trembled, tears rolled down my eyes. I cried for a minute straight. Could not control myself. The Grandeur, the Beauty, the smile of Ram Lalla, (the crown prince of Ayodhya) holding the golden bow and arrow, wearing beautiful garlands of flowers, his sight filled the heart & soul. After seeing him, at that moment, no wish was left. No complain existed. No fear remained. Life felt complete and fulfilled. His gaze asserted that.

Taking a long look, I walked backwards until he was out of sight. I wanted to have one more glimpse of Ram Lalla, but Police forced me to exit. As I came out, took a minute to calm down. Bowed again. Wiped tears off. Thanked Prabhu Ram and started walking out.

As I came out of the premises, I looked around. Everyone one is a stranger. Where are my friends? None of them are nearby. No where to be found. I was separated from my group. I kept walking in the exit route thinking about how to make the missing announcement. Thank God! I found them waiting for me in a corner.

I met them, we went to a restaurant, ate breakfast, did some shopping. We were looking for “prasad’, an offering to God that will be distributed to devotees, like it happens in Tirupati. But there were no such arrangements there. When we inquired in shops, they said that the prasad distribution has not started yet. So, as an alternative we bought some sweets from a shop. By this time, the crowd had increased. Seeing the crowd, we decided not to explore but to go back to homestay and prepare for the next destination, Prayagraj.

As we headed back to the homestay, we came across a building called "Valmiki Bhavan". We went inside to check it out. It was a 2 storey building, a huge hall like a palace, quiet & peaceful. A good place to meditate. At the centre, it had idols of Lava & Kusha along with sage Valmiki. Best part is that the entire Ramayana of 24 thousand shlokas, was painted on walls. I stood there in awe and read some of the sholkas from Balakanda. We came out & went back to homestay.

Story isn’t over yet. Please read on.

At the homestay, we rested till evening and prepared for the next destination. We reached Ayodhya Railway station. It was newly renovated and looked fabulous. Our train was coming on the last platform. Seeing so many people on the platform, we breathed a sigh of despair. "All are waiting for the same train?" we suspected. We found a spot beside a shop that was run by the Railways.

We settled down there and after a bit of relaxing, my attention went to the shop. It was a sweet shop, had nothing but sweets. As everyone was waiting for the train; nobody gave much attention to that shop. I got up and went up to the counter, looked at the items and inquired,

“How much for the Laddus?”

Shopkeeper: “100 Rs”

Me: “If they are fresh, give me one”

Shopkeeper: "This a Govt run shop. Can’t keep expired items.”

He gave me a box. I paid through the UPI, came back and tucked it in my bag.

After a while, I went to the shop again and asked,

“Where do we get Ram lalla prasad?”

Shopkeeper: “Sweet shop” (While chewing Pan Masala)

Me: “Duh. I mean original, authentic, official prasad, Bhaiya”

Shopkeeper: "These are the same laddus they offer in Hanuman temple”

Me: “What about Ramji?”

Shopkeeper: “Temple has not started Prasad distribution yet”

Me: “I see. It would be great if they start”

Shopkeeper: “What else you want? Everything is fresh and tasty”

Me: “Nothing else matters, if you don’t have Ram Lalla prasad”

As I was about to step back, he reached to a box and took out a sachet.

He said, “Here. This is Ram Lalla prasad. Given only to officials and temple workers.”

I looked at the sachet holding it in my palm. The label on it read “Prasad, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya” in Hindi.

Eyes lit up, brain froze, heartbeat went up, time stopped as I stood there in disbelief holding the sachet. I looked up, he smiled. As I reached my packet for money. He said, “It is NOT FOR SALE”.

I expressed my gratitude in a humble voice, as “Dhanyawad”. He smiled & came out of the shop. I went back and put the sachet inside the backpack.

Is it a mere coincidence or a Blessing from above? Did Ram Lalla answer to my wish? We'll never know but I'd like to think so!

Train arrival announced. Coach positions were displayed. As the Train approached. We rushed to our coach spot. We boarded the train with a great difficulty. Every coach was like an Unreserved bogie. It was packed. In a coach of 70 capacity, over 200 passengers were sitting. We squeezed through them. Each of us occupied our seats along with 5 others. Onward Journey continued. Train moved but we could not until we reached Prayagraj.

Our physical struggles did not matter because the path led us to our Prabhu Ram.

“Jai Shri Ram”