Temporary shops set up in different cities of Odisha to sell flags, T-shirts on Ram, Hanuman

Berhampur: Ahead of the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya on January 22, several temporary stalls and outlets have come up in different cities of Odisha including capital city Bhubaneswar and Silk City Berhampur selling saffron flags, T-shirts with printing of Lord Ram and Hanuman, among others.

Besides the makeshift shops on the roadsides at Unit-1 market in Bhubaneswar and Khallikote University here and in some other areas of the city, several other shops, which generally sell the puja materials and general stores, are stocked with saffron flags and shirts bearing Hanuman's image.

Sachin Panigrahy, who opened a makeshift shop on the roadside near Khallikote College stadium here about ten days ago, showed varieties of saffron flags of different sizes with printed images of Lord Ram, Hanuman, etc, to the customers.

"We have varieties of flags which have writings like Jai Sri Ram and Jai Hanuman. The price range varies from Rs 10 to Rs 500 per piece. Most of the buyers, however, preferred to take the middle-size flags of Rs 100 to Rs 200 and bike flag holders", he said.

Along with saffron flags, he also sells national flags, caps and some other materials related to the Republic Day on January 26.

Even after the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya on January 22, the temporary shop will continue till the end of Republic Day to sell saffron flags and national flags and some other materials, said another shopkeeper, near Khallikote College here.

Sanjay Panigrahy, another seller who set up his shop near the Old Bus Stand area here said he also has an array of Lord Ram-related items like flags and T-shirts. After January 22, he will replace these with national flags and some other materials related to Republic Day.

The other materials like the religious books related to Lord Ram have also increased in the run-up to the inauguration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. The selling of religious books like Ramayana, Hanuman Chalisa, Sundarakanda and 'Ram Charita Manas' has been increasing in the last few days, said Sudhesh Patra, a book-seller in the Old Bus-Stand area, here.

"There is high demand for Sri Ram flags among people, especially youths. We have such flags specially designed for motorcycles", said a shopkeeper in the Unit-I area in Bhubaneswar.

Apart from the above materials, the people are also seen buying mobile covers and stickers that have portraits of Sri Ram and Ayodhya temple.

Meanwhile, saffron flags are flying in several areas in the Silk City, mostly the wards where the BJP corporators won in the last elections in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). They have also planned for Hanuman Chalisa and Sunderkand on the day of the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.