NRI & Overseas Families: The Ayodhya Ram Mandir Yatra Guide
Most guides to Ayodhya are written for people who live in India — Aadhaar in the pocket, UPI on the phone, a cousin who knows someone in Faizabad. Your trip is different: a passport to worry about, flights that land at odd hours, parents back home you may be booking for, and a family that has waited years for this darshan.
This page covers the parts that are genuinely different for NRIs and overseas families — and only those. Everything else about Ayodhya (routes, hotels, the temple itself) is covered in the guides linked at the end.
What changed in 2026, in plain words
The e-OCI is here. India moved to a digital OCI record from 30 June 2026. New applicants no longer get a physical booklet, and a new foreign passport no longer requires a booklet re-issue the way it used to — the record is updated digitally. If your paperwork predates this, check the current requirement on the MHA or VFS site before you fly; this area has changed twice in a year and the airlines will ask.
Foreign passports are accepted in the Sugam system. The free Sugam Darshan e-pass accepts a passport as the identity document, so overseas families book exactly like everyone else — no special quota, no agent, no fee.
Darshan, step by step — and the midnight thing
The Sugam Darshan e-pass is free and issued only on the official Trust portal, online.srjbtkshetra.org. It opens 15 days ahead at midnight IST.
For once, your timezone is on your side: midnight in Ayodhya is mid-afternoon in New York, evening in London and the Gulf, and early morning in Singapore and Sydney — not the middle-of-the-night scramble your relatives describe.
| Your city | Slots open around (IST midnight) |
|---|---|
| New York / Toronto | 1:30–2:30 PM (varies with daylight saving) |
| London | 6:30–7:30 PM |
| Dubai / Abu Dhabi / Doha | 10:30 PM |
| Singapore | 2:30 AM |
| Sydney / Melbourne | 5:30–6:30 AM |
Practical bits: one mobile number covers up to 8 devotees, each traveller uploads an ID (passport works), and on the day you carry the printed pass plus the same original ID. The pass-holder counter is separate from the general queue.
The Trust does not authorise any agent for online bookings. Nobody can sell you a pass — if someone quotes a price for one, it is not a pass.
General darshan needs no booking at all and is free; expect 1–3 hours on a normal day, longer on weekends and festival weeks.
Aarti attendance
The daily aartis — Mangala (pre-dawn), Shringar (morning), Sandhya (evening) — are free to attend but capacity is tiny and slots are gone within minutes of opening. If an aarti is the heart of the trip for your parents, tell us the date early and we will plan the whole morning around the booking window. Arrive 30 minutes before it starts; there is a separate entrance for aarti attendees.
Getting here from your city
| From | The sensible route | Ground time to Ayodhya |
|---|---|---|
| New York / Toronto | Nonstop to Delhi, then the short hop to Ayodhya (AYJ), or via Lucknow | AYJ: ~20 min; Lucknow: ~2.5–3 h drive |
| London | Nonstop to Delhi, then AYJ | As above |
| Dubai / Gulf | Direct to Lucknow (LKO), drive up; or Delhi + AYJ | Lucknow: ~2.5–3 h |
| Singapore / KL | Delhi or Mumbai, then AYJ | AYJ: ~20 min |
| Sydney / Melbourne | Delhi, then AYJ | As above |
Nonstop Delhi–Ayodhya services exist and the schedules move with the season, so check the airline directly rather than trusting any blog — including this one. What we do is track your flight and time the pickup to the actual movement.
The three-night plan that beats jet lag
| Day | Plan |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Land, transfer, check in, sleep if you can. Evening: Ram Ki Paidi — flat, open, and the Saryu Aarti at dusk |
| Day 2 | Darshan on the first real morning (never the arrival morning), then Hanuman Garhi if energy allows; long afternoon rest |
| Day 3 | The old Ayodhya — Kanak Bhawan, Dashrath Mahal, Guptar Ghat — at a slow pace; second darshan if desired |
| Day 4 | Morning free, then the airport |
Two nights is the floor. Three is what our overseas guests book once they see the flight times.
Booking for your parents in India
One of our most common requests is not a family trip at all — it is children abroad sending their parents to Ayodhya. You can book the Sugam pass yourself for them (their ID, your timezone advantage), and we handle the ground: pickup from their home or station, hotels with lifts and Western bathrooms, E-cart and wheelchair help, a coordinator beside them all day, and updates to you on WhatsApp. You get the written plan and the GST invoice before anything is paid.
What we arrange — and what we will not pretend
- Airport or station pickup with a name placard, English-speaking driver, at AYJ, Lucknow or Delhi.
- Verified hotels — we tell you the exact property and room category before you pay, and we do not claim hotel chains we do not control.
- Darshan and security guidance: what to carry, what to leave, how the counters work.
- Wheelchair and E-cart arrangement for elders, and pace planning if parents are travelling.
- A coordinator on WhatsApp who answers during your hours, not just IST office hours.
- A GST invoice in INR. Small token advance to hold the dates; the balance on arrival.
Money, plainly: we invoice in INR. For payments, use whatever is cleanest for you — an Indian account with UPI, a bank transfer, or settle on arrival; everything you pay appears on the invoice and nothing appears that is not on it.
Where to go next
- Ram Mandir darshan for foreign nationals — the ID rules, security list and aarti booking in detail.
- Travelling with elderly parents — carts, wheelchairs and pacing for the 70+ pilgrims in your family.
- USA to Ayodhya and Dubai & the Gulf to Ayodhya — the city-by-city versions.
- How to reach Ayodhya — trains, flights and the drive in.
Planning this trip and want someone local to handle it? Our office is on NH 28, Deokali Bypass, opposite Hotel Panchsheel, Ayodhya Dham. Message the desk on WhatsApp at +91 84008 08200 — we answer late-night messages from US and Gulf time zones.