Traffic has been restricted on certain roads leading to the Ram temple (File)
The Uttar Pradesh government has urged popular personalities, especially those who fall in the 'VIP' category, to inform the local authorities a week before arriving in Ayodhya to offer prayers at the newly inaugurated Ram temple.
The government appealed them to inform either the local authorities, the state government or the temple trust before their arrival.
This is in view of a massive crowd that flocked to the temple a day after the after a star-studded 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony threw open its doors to the public.
A prior intimation of a VIP visit will allow the local authorities make necessary arrangements for crowd control and avoid any untoward incident.
Top BJP leaders, including party chief JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah, are likely to visit the temple this month end, and early February. Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states are expected to visit in the days to follow.
Around 5 lakh devotees turned up at the temple on Tuesday, but only up to 3 lakh could have darshan of Ram Lalla during the day. In view of the unprecedented turnout, the temple authorities today extended the visiting time to 10 pm.
Traffic has been restricted on certain roads leading to the temple and devotees are required to reach the premises on foot.
A comprehensive security arrangement, comprising personnel from the UP Police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), and private security guards, has been implemented, with over 8,000 officials deployed for crowd control.
Considering the massive surge in visitors, online aarti booking has been suspended until next Monday.