Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity.
Officials estimate 100 private jets will descend on Jan. 22 on Ayodhya airport, filling it to capacity.
Mehra did not disclose the price of the charters, but private jet booking website JetSetGo lists the price of a Mumbai-Gorakhpur flight on a Falcon 2000 jet with nine passengers on board at about $74,000.
There is a waiting period of two weeks," said Baldev Singh, a manager at HS Jewellers in Lucknow city.
"People are betting on economic prosperity but there's also emotional attachment to be part of the Ayodhya story."
Persons:
Saurabh Sharma, Tanvi Mehta, Narendra Modi, Mukesh Ambani, Lord Ram, Modi, It's, Rajan Mehra, Mehra, Baldev Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhinandan, Abhinandan Lodha, Aditya Kalra
Organizations:
Indian, Ram, Bharatiya Janata Party, Dassault, Reuters
Locations:
Tanvi Mehta AYODHYA, India, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Mumbai, Thailand, Lucknow city