More than 30 years ago, a woman from Jharkhand, in her fifties, took an indefinite “maun vrat” on the day when Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya was demolished, with a pledge that she would never utter a word until the Ram Temple is inaugurated in the holy city on the banks of Saryu River.
The dream of Saraswati Devi, now 85 years old, will finally become a reality on January 22, with the “Pran Pratishtha” (consecration) of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. And what makes the event more special for the octogenarian is her presence there. She has already left for the holy city from Dhanbad on Monday night to witness the inauguration of the temple.
Devi’s youngest child Hare Ram Agarwal said Devi has been invited by disciples of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das to participate in the event. Devi, who is also known as ‘Mauni Mata’, has been jubilant ever since the date of the consecration of the temple was announced.
“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 the consecration of the temple was announced,” 55-year-old Hare Ram Agarwal, told told the news agency, PTI.
COMMUNICATION THROUGH SIGNS
It was not easy for Devi and her family throughout these years. She used to communicate with family members through sign language but wrote down complicated sentences.
“Mostly, we understood her sign language. But she used to write down complicated sentences on a piece of paper,” said Innu Agarwal, Devi’s daughter-in-law.
BROKE HER VRAT FOR AN HOUR TILL 2020
Though she took a break from ‘maun vrat’ and spoke for an hour at noon every day till 2020, she did not utter a word since the foundation for the Ram Temple was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020.
DEVOTEE OF LORD RAM AFTER HUSBAND’S DEATH
A mother of eight children, including four daughters, Devi devoted her life to Lord Ram after the death of her husband Devkinandan Agarwal in 1986. Since then she has spent most of her time on pilgrimages, said her family members while neighbours vouched for her.
Nand Lal’s wife Innu Agarwal said that a few months after her marriage, she saw her mother-in-law embracing the vow of silence in devotion to Lord Ram.
“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,” Innu said.
TAPASYA IN CHITRAKOOT
In 2001, Devi did ‘tapasya’ for seven months at Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh where Lord Ram is believed to have spent a major part of his exile, Innu claimed. “Besides, she also went on pilgrimages across the country,” she said.
WAKES AT 4 AM, EATS ONCE A DAY
According to Innu Agarwal, her mother-in-law wakes up around 4 am every morning and undertakes ‘sadhana’ (meditation) for around six to seven hours in the morning.
“She studies religious books such as Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita in the evening after ‘Sandhya Aarti’,” she said.
Devi eats food only once a day and consumes a glass of milk in the morning and evening. She maintains a vegetarian diet consisting of rice, pulses and roti.
Devi’s neighbour, Sunita Devi Dalmia said, “We respect Mata Ji. We have never seen her talking…She uses sign language to communicate and most of her time is devoted to either prayers or in upkeep of her plants.” Another neighbour Manikant Pandey said he had never seen Devi talking.
Another neighbour Babita Sharma said Devi has been an inspiration for her, adding that she never uttered a word but displayed affection to all and most of the time we saw her performing puja.
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