Saraswati Devi, a devoted follower of Lord Ram from Jharkhand, will end her three-decade-long silence (maun vrat) before Lord Ram in Ayodhya on January 22. The 85-year-old woman pledged to break her vow of silence ('maun vrat') after witnessing the inauguration of the Ram temple.
"Inspired by Nitya Gopal Das, she visits Ayodhya quite often. 30 years ago, she vowed to speak only after she saw the Ram temple with her own eyes. She will break her fast on January 22 in Ayodhya," said her relative to news agency ANI. Saraswati Devi started her vow on the day Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, promising to break it only when the Ram temple was inaugurated, her family claimed.
The Dhanbad resident left for Ayodhya aboard a train on Monday night (January 8) to witness the temple's inauguration on January 22. Devi, who is popularly known as 'Mauni Mata' in Ayodhya, used to communicate with family members through sign language but wrote down complicated sentences.
'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 PTI.