'Ram, Sitaram': When 'Mauni Mata' Saraswati Devi Broker Her 'Maun Vrat' After 32 Years

After attending the much-anticipated inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Saraswati Devi, an 85-year-old devotee popularly known as Mauni Mata (silent mother), finally broke her thirty-two-year-long vow of silence. This momenthappened after she attended the Pran-Pratishtha of the Ram Mandir.

Saraswati Devi, also known as 'Mauni Mata,' had started her silence pledge three decades ago, vowing to break it only upon the completion of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. On January 22, during the Pran Pratishta ceremony of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, she uttered the words 'Ram, Sitaram,' marking the end of her long period of silence. The 85-year-old, mother of eight children, dedicated her entire life to studying the Ram Charit Manas and various religious texts. Despite lacking formal education, she acquired literacy through her late husband, Devkinandan Agarwal.

The origin of Mauni Mata's vow dates back to May 1992, the year of the Babri Masjid demolition. In Ayodhya, she encountered Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the head of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, who instructed her to circumambulate Kamtanath mountain. Following this directive, she went to Chitrakoot, residing in Kalpavas for seven and a half months, subsisting on a glass of milk daily while completing a 14 km circumambulation of Kamtanath mountain.

Returning to Ayodhya after the parikrama, she met Swami Nritya Gopal Das on December 6, 1992, which left her deeply inspired. From that moment onwards, she pledged to maintain her vow of silence until the installation of Ram Lalla in the temple. Saraswati Devi's youngest son, Hari Lal Aggarwal, shared that her inspiration from Nritya Gopal Das led her to frequent visits to Ayodhya. Thirty years ago, she committed to breaking her silence only after witnessing the completion of the Ram temple, a promise fulfilled on January 22 in Ayodhya.