A Friday evening drizzle near the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain sent roadside vendors selling prasad and souvenirs scurrying. Looking for cover, they folded their mats, packed their wares and shut shop for the day, rather early.
These vendors near Gate 4 of the temple say that around 250 of them who plied their trade along a 500-metre stretch were displaced to make way for a religious programme in 2022. Since then, they have not been allowed to set up their stalls.
Gangabai Sisodia, who has been selling prasad for 40 years now, said they do not have a fixed place to do business, unlike other vendors who have stalls where a table is used as a makeshift counter. “We keep moving from one place to another to make a living as either the municipal corporation officials or the guards hired by the temple committee keep harassing us. They often seize all our items forcing us out of business for days,” she said.
