The celebrations started on the civilian jet aircraft itself that brought us to Ayodhya. The crew chanted Jai Shri Ram on the PA system and the passengers chimed in with mantras, bhajans and Hanuman Chalisa. The newly minted Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was small yet efficient. When we landed, we were welcomed with Jai Shri Ram gamchas and yellow tikas of sandalwood paste by RSS workers. It was like landing at a destination wedding. Garlanded and marked, we were ushered into waiting cars.
As we drove down, I was amazed to see how the city stood transformed. The main arterial streets have been widened. All the shopfronts have been painted the colour of Jaipur sandstone and given uniform nameplates with a subtle mandir design on them rather than any loud hoardings. The street lamps are marked by Ram's dhanush and Hanuman's gada symbols. On Dharam Path, the main road leading up to the temple, the lamp posts have orb-like lights resembling the sun, a nod perhaps to Ram's Suryavanshi lineage.
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