Doctors at Ayodhya’s district hospital for women have been flooded with requests from pregnant patients wanting to have a C-section on January 22 so their children could be born on the day the child form of Lord Ram is installed on the throne of the Ram Mandir’s sanctum sanctorum. Not just Ayodhya, but similar requests and demands have reportedly been made in hospitals across districts in UP.
“It’s a weird request and the count is increasing by the day,” a doctor at the district hospital for women in Ayodhya told News18.
The 100-bedded hospital has five surgeons who also examine patients at the out-patient department (OPD). “On an average, we get around 150 to 200 patients a day at the OPD. Of these, many are expecting mothers,” Dr Alankrita Ayan, medical officer at the hospital told News18.
An average of six to eight deliveries are conducted each day. “In such a situation, it is next to impossible to align the deliveries on any one day as it will not only overburden the hospital, but may also pose a threat for the mother and the infant,” she said.
The weight of the medical advice, however, seems to have been dulled by the superstition to have their children born on an auspicious and historic day. Some expecting mothers believe their child and family shall be blessed with good fortune if they deliver on January 22.
“Nothing could be as auspicious as the day Lord Ram will be virajmaan in the Ram Temple. We have urged the doctor to align the delivery accordingly,” said Veena Nishad, an expecting mother, who hails from Ayodhya.
Private nursing homes, too, are struggling with the demand and some have assured patients of delivery on January 22.
Similar requests from pregnant women have been reported from Meerut’s Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital. “My delivery is scheduled for mid-January. My family wanted me to plan the delivery on January 22,” said Rachna Pandey who is admitted at the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital.
Dr Seema Diwedi who works at the Meerut hospital said she has received around 12 to 14 such requests. “The hospital administration has also made special arrangements to fulfil the wish of the expecting mothers and carry maximum deliveries on the day,” she said.
More than a lakh devotees are expected to descend on the temple town on the occasion of ‘pran pratishtha’ on January 22. Headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the invitee list reportedly has around 7,000 guests from India and abroad.
Though the rituals for the consecration ceremony will start on January 16, the ‘shubh muhurat‘ (auspicious moment) for the main event will begin at 12:45pm on January 22 and will end at 1am on January 23. Around 4,000 saints and priests from 140 different sects will take part in the event.
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