Ayodhya Ram Temple: 'Uninvited Guests' Monkeys Put Organisers In A Spot of Bother

As Ayodhya gears up for the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Lalla idol set on January 22, all eyes are on the guest list. People are looking to know Who are the high-profile personalities that have been invited for the event.

However, the authorities fear that hundreds of monkeys may play spoilsport by reaching uninvited at the ceremony. Monkeys are usually found in the city of Ayodhya and are known to throng temples.

ANI

The trouble-makers: Beware of monkey attacks

Monkeys are a trouble-maker in Ayodhya; they hover around temples and trouble devotees by snatching away mobile phones, spectacles and 'prasad'.

Representative image/ BCCL

However, despite being a nuisance, devotees resist any action against them, since monkeys are considered followers of Lord Hanuman.

The Ayodhya administration has thus come up with a unique way to deal with the monkeys ahead of the Ram Mandir consecration in Ayodhya.

Spillage-proof dustbin

The Ayodhya administration has installed specially designed trash bins, with a retractable flap on the top, within the temple complex.

Trash can be thrown inside the bin through the flap, but a locking system on the rear side of the bin would ensure that only sanitation workers can empty it, thus preventing a dustbin-spillage by monkeys, while searching for food from the bin.

Representative image/ Unsplash

"A lot of monkeys roam around on the Ram temple complex; hence, a locking system was necessary. The trash bin would be designed in the matchbox shape to make them easy to use as well as to clean," said an official in the district administration.

A Rs 60,000 stone-studded pink sandstone dustbin from Rajasthan

The trash bin has been designed by senior executives of Tata Consulting Engineers, deputed by the trust.

The temple trust has outsourced the making of these special dustbins to a Mandawa-based agency, in Rajasthan, which makes the product out of pink sandstone. The outer layer of the bin would be covered with stones matching the overall facade of the temple.

The trust has asked the vendor to prepare 35 bins with a minimum capacity of at least 200 litre each, within a fortnight. Each bin would cost about Rs 60,000.

Monkey menace a common occurrence

Representative image

Interestingly, even during the G20 event held in New Delhi on September 9 last year, the authorities had to come up with interesting ways to keep monkeys at bay.

This included installation of life-sized cutouts of langurs at various G20 venues and deploying personnel trained to mimic sounds made by langurs, which can scare off the monkeys.

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