Ayodhya, the new spiritual nucleus of India, has experienced an unprecedented boom in its hospitality sector. To be sure, there would be a huge influx of people in the run-up to and for the consecration of the Ram temple was given, and a steady stream of visitors was expected after the event.

Even so, in the first three days following the consecration of the temple, hotels in the temple town collectively pulling in almost Rs 20 crore is astounding.

"It is a record for Ayodhya as in the first three days-January 22 to January 24-the hotels of all shapes and sizes in Ayodhya have earned anything between Rs 15 crore and Rs 20 crore," Sharad Kapoor, president of the Faizabad Hotel Association (FHA), told Moneycontrol on Friday.

He attributed this success to "Ram ji ki kripa, (Ram's mercy)", emphasising that such a volume of business had never been witnessed even during traditional mela times when again over 1 lakh devotees visited Ayodhya.

On the first two days post-Pran Pratishtha or consecration on January 22, over 7.5 lakh pilgrims visited Ayodhya to have a darshan of Ram Lalla, as the idol at the temple is known as, while on January 22 itself, around 50,000 people visited Ayodhya. And all this despite temperatures plunging to 2.9 degrees Celsius.

The Ayodhya administration claimed that over 5 lakh devotees visited Ayodhya on January 23 and over 2.5 lakh devotees the next day.

The numbers were far higher than what hoteliers and even the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which oversees the temple, had estimated. The initial estimate had pegged daily visitors at only 1 lakh.

The best business the local hotels had was on January 22, when all hotels had put up 'No Vacancy' signs. Realising the demand, many hotels increased room rent by four to five times. Kapoor claims that one premier hotel in Ayodhya charged 1.5 lakh for a suite for a night against the normal rate of Rs 10,000 before taxes.