Day when Ayodhya was baptised by fire

Tension in the air but no violence in temple town on judgement dayAyodhya:Ayodhya had to undergo a trial by fire on Thursday much like what Seeta, wife of the Lord Rama, underwent to prove her chastity. Men In Black: Lawyers representing various pro-Hindu groups wave and flash victory signs after the court verdict in Lucknow. pic/afpThe day when three judges of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court were about to deliver the verdict in the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid the mood in the temple town was that of confusion.u00a0u00a0The city, which was turned into a fortress with a huge posse of para-military forces deployed all around, had been cautious in its approach to the verdict which would have redefined its destiny.The whole town wore a deserted look and the sporadic activity came to a complete halt in the afternoon. 'Pandas' were busy discussing the outcome of the litigation and the usually jam-packed Tulsighat had only a few people who had come out of the town to perform prayers for their dead relatives. Forget about buses packed with tourists, even the tempos that ferry people from railway station and nearby areas did not ply, said Suraj Pandey, a local priest. Almost all markets in the temple town remained closed the whole day. The most bustling locality of the town, Ramkot, remained deserted summing up the mood of the city on judgment day.At noon Nritya Gopal Das of Mani Ram Das Chhawani was busy in prayers while Suresh Das of Digambhar Akhara was reading the documents related to the dispute. The afternoon prayers at Hanumangarhi came as a welcome relief in the overall tension. The flag march by PAC and Rapid Action Force set the tone for the day. By 3:30 pm as the time of verdict came closer, there prevailed an undeclared curfew in the town. By this time sadhus had started gathering in karsewakpuram at Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan Bhawan. The sadhus remained glued to TV screens. When the verdict was finally pronounced at around 4:30 pm the sadhus started cheering.Muhammad Hashim Ansari, who remained in the media spotlight for the past few days as one of the oldest parties to the dispute, remained indoors throughout the day. The green door to his one-room houses was being opened only when there was knock from somebody familiar. After the verdict was declared, he came out and told the waiting media contingent that he welcomed the decision. He said that he does not want the issue to become a point-scoring match between the political parties. The city had started to come to its senses by evening.The shops opened and as the evening approached people came out of their homes. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere. Web of Justice The website of the Allahabad High Court website, where the full verdict of the Ayodhya title suit was uploaded, crashed on Thursday due to heavy traffic. After the announcement of the Ayodhya verdict, a live video in recored version was also to be uploaded on the website (http://allahabadhighcourt.in/). But shortly after 4 pm, the site became inaccessible. With the media asked to shun speculation on the verdict and keep away from the court premises, thousands of netizens tried to log on to the high court portal to have a look at the complete verdict.