Lucknow, Dec 28 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government has banned the sale of liquor in a 100 Kosi radius of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The decision comes ahead of the grand inauguration of the Ram temple in the holy city on January 22.

This was announced by UP excise minister Nitin Agarwal after meeting Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Thursday.

The 84 Kosi Parikrama Marg has also been declared a liquor-prohibited area.

The decision to ban liquor in the holy city of Ayodhya dates back to 2018 when the Yogi Adityanath government renamed the Faizabad district as Ayodhya.

Following this, seers and sadhus in the area demanded a ban on alcohol as well as meat to ‘preserve the sanctity of the place'.

In June last year, the Yogi government banned the sale of liquor in and around temples in Ayodhya and Mathura. The Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura are two locations where the government had issued an order prohibiting the sale of alcohol.

Additionally, the authorities cancelled the licenses of Ayodhya’s booze vendors. The administration of Mathura has ordered the closure of 37 liquor, beer and bhang stores located near temples. In Mathura, the three pubs located in the hotels were shut down.