Vilas Bhavsar, a 60-year-old resident of Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, fulfilled a promise made in 1992 as he donned footwear for the first time in 32 years on Monday.
Bhavsar, a Kar Sevak, had pledged to refrain from wearing any footwear until the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was completed.
The moment came after the consecration of the new Ram Lalla idol at the Ayodhya temple, an event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP’s Girish Mahajan, a minister in the Maharashtra government, presented Bhavsar with a pair of ‘chappals’ at an event in Jamner, Jalgaon district, a gesture acknowledged by Bhavsar by embracing the symbolic act and wearing the footwear.
Bhavsar, who runs a ‘paan’ shop in Jalgaon, said he was happy that his vow had been fulfilled and the dream of every ‘Ram bhakt’ has been realised.
He said that after demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, he vowed not to wear footwear till a grand Ram temple was built ”at the same spot” in the Uttar Pradesh town.
Kar sevaks are people who volunteer their services for free to a religious cause, the term being derived from the Sanskrit words ‘kar’ (hand) and ‘sevak’ (servant).