Rush of devotees at Ayodhya Ram temple on first day, security personnel struggle to control crowds

Devotees in their thousands thronged the gates of the Ram Mandir complex in Ayodhya, jostling to enter the temple that opened to the public on Tuesday, a day after the consecration of the new Ram Lalla idol.

For some hours, security personnel drawn from police and paramilitary forces had a tough time controlling the crowd of devotees, many of whom had been queuing up since late Monday night. At least one devotee fainted as the people pushed and shoved their way towards the temple.

As the morning gave way to the afternoon, the crowd swelled to several hundreds of thousands, with people dragging themselves towards the main gateway that faces the Ram Path.

Carrying flags bearing visages of Lord Ram and chanting "Jai Shri Ram", the devotees waited for hours in the biting cold before the doors of the grand temple opened.

"Felt so delighted, my life's aim has been fulfilled. Our ancestors struggled for this and it has been brought to fruition. The arrangement should continue like this and the name of Lord Ram should reign for ages," said Manish Verma, a devotee from Punjab.

An idol of the new Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, a landmark event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also gave a clarion call to go beyond the grand mandir's construction to build the foundation of a "strong, capable and divine" India of the next 1,000 years.