• Source:PTI

An 85-year-old woman from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad identified as Saraswati Devi will break her three-decade-long ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) following the inauguration of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. Popularly known as ‘Mauni Mata’, Saraswati Devi reportedly started her vow on the day of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. 

She also left for Ayodhya aboard a train on January 8 to witness the inauguration of the temple. Saraswati Devi used to communicate with her family members with sign language but wrote down complex words and sentences. 

Despite taking a break from the ‘maun vrat’ and speaking for an hour at noon every day till 2020, Saraswati Devi went completely silent on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the temple's foundation.

Devi, a mother of eight children, including four daughters devoted her entire life to Lord Ram following the death of her husband Devkinandan Agarwal in 1986. According to her family members, she spent most of her life in the pilgrimages. 

“The day Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, my mother took a vow to observe silence till the Ram Mandir was constructed in Ayodhya. She has been jubilant ever since the date of consecration of the temple was announced," 55-year-old Hare Ram Agarwal, Devi's youngest child, told news agency PTI. 

"She left for Ayodhya on Monday night aboard Ganga-Sutlej Express from Dhanbad Railway Station. She will break her silence on January 22," he said. 

He also stated that his mother has been invited by disciples of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das to participate in the Ram temple inauguration event. Devi is currently living with her second-eldest son, Nand Lal Agarwal, who works as an official with Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a division of Coal India.

"After the demolition of Babri Masjid, my mother-in-law visited Ayodhya and took a pledge of 'maun vrat' till Ram Mandir was constructed. She used to remain silent for 23 hours a day, taking an hour-long break only at noon. The rest of the time, she communicated with us through pen and paper," she said. "However, when the foundation of the Ram Mandir was laid in 2020 by PM Modi, she went for a 24-hour 'maun vrat' and pledged to speak only after the temple was inaugurated," Nand Lal’s wife Innu Agarwal told PTI. 

Ayodhya Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony: 

The Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony will witness the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla (Lord Ram in his childlike form) at the grand temple on January 22. Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing in the temple town to welcome the devotees, delegates, and tourists for the inauguration of the Ram Temple. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple. The event has garnered significant attention and it will be witnessed by several VVIP guests from India and abroad receiving invitations to participate in the auspicious occasion in Ayodhya.


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