MUMBAI: 60-year-old Vikas Bhavsar from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra had vowed in 1992 not to wear any footwear until a grand Ram temple is built in Ayodhya.
On Monday, after the new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple, at an event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhavsar wore footwear for the first time in 32 years.
BJP's Girish Mahajan, a minister in the Maharashtra government, presented Bhavsar a pair of chappals at an event at Jamner in Jalgaon district on Monday and the latter wore them.
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 realized.
Bhavsar said that after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, he vowed not to wear footwear till a grand Ram temple was built at the same spot in Ayodhya.
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).