Jharkhand: Dhanbad devotee to break 10-yr old ‘vow of silence’ for Ram Temple on January 22

SUBHASH MISHRA

Dhanbad, January 8: An 85-year-old woman devotee of Dhanbad will break her 10-year-old ‘Vow of Silence’ to construct the Ram temple on January 22 in  Ayodhya during the consecration ceremony.

Saraswati (Agrawal) Devi, a resident of Bhowra in Baghmara block, around  25 km away from here, had ten years ago vowed to keep silent and speak only after the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Since the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been built, she has decided to break her ‘Vow of silence’ on January 22 during the consecration ceremony. She will leave for Ayodhya tonight.

Though officially she has not been invited to the ceremony, Manijee, head of  Ayodhya Pathar Mandir near Chhoti Chhavni, the disciple of Mahant Nitriya Gopal, has called her to grace the occasion.

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Saraswati Devi (mother of 8 children, four sons and four daughters) dedicated her life to the prayer of Lord Ram after the death of her husband, Devkinandan Agrawal, in 1986.

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Temple of Ayodhya

She made her base in a temple of Ayodhya and began spending time alone visiting religious places across the country.

“After the death of my father, my mother used to keep ‘Silent’ most of the time and spoke hardly for an hour in the day. Over ten years ago, she vowed to talk only after constructing her Lord’s temple in Ayodhya. Since then, she has been keeping mum and uses a copy–pen for communication, said Hare Ram Agrawal, youngest son of Saraswati Devi, who runs a shop in Karmatand of Dhanbad.

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Hope of Ram temple after Modi govt

However, a family member said that after the installation of the Narendra Modi government at the centre in 2014, her hope of  Ram temple construction in Ayodhya became more robust, and she vowed that she would speak only after construction.

Saraswati Devi has already lost her two elder sons and two daughters. She spent most of her time on religious tours. She stays in Dhanbad in her second son’s house, a general manager (GM) rank officer in Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

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‘Kalpwas’ in Chitrakoot

A few years ago, during ‘Kalpwas’ in Chitrakoot, Saraswati Devi lived on one glass of milk for 7.5 months. Impressed by her devotion, Videocon company owner V. Dhoot offered to provide milk whenever she wanted, but she refused.

Despite being 85 years old, Saraswati Devi is healthy. Her son claimed she still makes 22 rounds of Kamtanath Parvat in Chitrakoot.