In a unique display of unwavering faith and devotion, an 85-year-old woman from Jharkhand will break her three-decade-long ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) after her long-rooted desire comes true on January 22 with the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Saraswati Devi, a Dhanbad resident, took her vow on the day Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, promising to break it only when the Ram temple was inaugurated.
Devi also known as ‘Mauni Mata’ in Ayodhya, used to communicate with family members through sign language and writing on paper.
Though she took a short break from ‘maun vrat’ and spoke for an hour at noon every day till 2020, but she went completely silent the day the foundation for the temple was kept by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“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.
“She left for Ayodhya on Monday night aboard Ganga-Sutlej Express from Dhanbad Railway Station. She will break her silence on January 22,” Hare Ram, a resident of Bhowra in Baghmara block, said.
He said Devi has been invited by followers of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das to witness the Ram temple inauguration event. She has left for the temple on a train on Monday night to witness the inauguration of the temple.
A mother of eight children, Devi dedicated her life to Lord Ram after the death of her husband Devkinandan Agarwal in 1986, spending most of her time in pilgrimages.
Devi is currently residing with her second-eldest son Nand Lal Agarwal, an official with Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) at Dhaiya in Dhanbad.
Nand Lal’s wife Innu Agarwal (53) said that a few months after her marriage, she saw her mother-in-law going silent in devotion to Lord Ram.
“Mostly, we understood her sign language. But she used to write down complicated sentences on a piece of paper,” Innu Agarwal said.
“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 added.
“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.
In 2001, Devi did ‘tapasya’ (penance) for seven months at Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh where Lord Ram is believed to have spent a major part of his exile, Innu asserted.
“Besides, she also went on pilgrimages across the country,” she said.
Devi wakes up around 4 am every morning and practises ‘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 added.
Devi eats food only once a day and follows a vegetarian diet consisting of rice, pulses and roti.
( with agency inputs)
