The priest of Hindutva politics and once dismissed as a controversial leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jan 22, 2024 wrote himself in the pages of Hindu history as he inaugurated a large Ram temple on the site of a 16th century mosque that was demolished by Hindu hardliners on Dec 6, 1992.
The idol of God Ram was unveiled at the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in the presence of celebrities and others. Seers from various schools of Hinduism also attended. The puja was performed by PM Narendra Modi in august presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP's hardliner Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath.
Depicted as a young boy, the statue of black stone was adorned with gold jewelry, gemstones, diamonds and flowers. Modi placed offerings at the idol's feet as priests chanted and prayed.
Hundreds of people arrived carrying saffron flags, a color closely associated with Hinduism.
Gifts have been arriving in Ayodhya from artists and jewelers ahead of the inauguration, including a 2,100 kg (about 4,630 lbs) gold bell, a giant lamp weighing 1,100 kg (about 2,425 lbs), and an incense stick 108 feet long which will burn for more than a month.
Indian embassies across the world will be screening the historic event and some 7,000 dignitaries — including politicians and celebrities — will travel across India to attend the Pran Pratishtha, or consecration ceremony.
Modi was pictured dressed in a light colored kurta, a traditional Indian tunic and scarf, as he walked toward the inner sanctum of the temple.
Every part of the sprawling temple has been adorned with colorful flowers, both on the outside of the complex and insid
"This temple is all thanks to the Prime Minster and Yogi (Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath). I give credit to the prime minister because he is our chief. After the President, he is the one who does everything," one devotee Rajput said.
Another devotee, Anupawananda Swami, 86, called the temple's opening a "grand success" and said he was happy that Modi has been building temples around India.
#RamTempleAyodhya #Ram Mandir Jan 22, 2024 .... India keeps its date with Civilisational history
The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya is the crowning glory of Modi's Hindu nationalist ambition and is expected to boost his credentials in this year's election.
Depicted as a young boy, the statue of black stone was adorned with gold jewelry, gemstones, diamonds and flowers. Modi placed offerings at the idol's feet as priests chanted and prayed.
At the climax of the consecration a military helicopter flew over the temple, throwing flower petals over the vast building and the crowds of dignitaries below.
Jan 22, Monday's ceremony was attended by famous celebrities, politicians and industrialists, who flew across India to witness the event
The Ram temple fulfills a decades-long Hindu nationalist pledge to build a shrine to Lord Ram in Ayodhya - the flashpoint city.
The new global pilgrim hub was given a major makeover to transform it into a destination for pilgrims and tourists from across the world.
Hindus believe that Ayodhya is the birthplace of God Ram and the Babri mosque was built by Muslim invader Babar on the ruins of a Ram temple at the exact spot where the God was born.
The movement to build a temple at the same site was a major factor that propelled the BJP into political prominence in the 1990s.
Some of India's biggest celebrities, including Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, have arrived at the site of the temple to attend the event.
A protracted legal battle about the ownership of the land followed the mosque's demolition. It was resolved in 2019 when the Supreme Court gave the disputed land to the Hindus. Muslims were given a plot outside the city to build a mosque.
Temple rises from ruins of one of India’s darkest days
Critics of the Modi regime and the BJP have also accused the central government of going overboard with what is essentially a religious celebration in a country which - according to its constitution - is secular.
Constructed at a cost of $217m (£170m), the new three-storey temple - made with pink sandstone and anchored by black granite - stretches across 7.2 acres in a 70-acre complex.
A 51-inch (4.25-ft) statue of the deity, specially commissioned for the temple, was unveiled last week. The idol has been placed on a marble pedestal in the sanctum sanctorum.
In Ayodhya and for that matter in India's most populous city all roads lead to the new temple.
Thousands of policemen have been deployed to ensure security and manage traffic. Saffron-coloured flags of the BJP and those with images of Hindu gods dot major roads, many of which have been decorated with bright yellow and orange marigold flowers.
Monday's ceremony called Pran Pratishtha, which loosely translates from Sanskrit into "establishment of life force".
"Hindus believe that chanting of mantras and a set of rituals performed around a fire will infuse sacred life in an idol or a photograph of a deity," says a BBC report.
Paramilitary troops protecting the main temple to cordon off the sanctum sanctorum. The central force has been guarding the Ramjanmbhoomi since the late 1990s. Special state forces have the largest component, with 1,400 personnel from UP Police and PAC that will be deployed in the ‘red’ zone just outside the temple. Artificial intelligence, drones and CCTVs are being used as an added layer of security.
Big event... Bigger message:: Ayodhya's Ram temple will mark symbolic Liberation of India from a thousand years of servitude
The Ayodhya temple will mark the symbolic liberation of India from a thousand years of servitude under foreign rule.
India in modern context could be the one that British colonisers left in 1947. Now it is trying to come out of a box - called Nehruvian democracy-- which had typical Left and socialistic leaning. Today's India under Narendra Modi, once dismissed as a Hindu satrap, seeks the civilisational place. It is assertive and on its way to display the confidence of an assertive nation - it's no longer apologetic about the Hindu civilisational roots.
The religious minorities - Christians and Muslims - are essentially converted from the large old family of Hindus only. Hence, BJP national vice president M Chuba Ao, a Naga Christian leader, says "Christianity has never asked Christians in Indian not to be patriotic or not to love their own country".
There are numerous tales of Muslims and Christians sacrificing themselves for the prestige and unity and integration of the nation. Political Hinduism is something the BJP and its fountainhead RSS has been keen to 'revive'. Now that has been achieved and is a reality. It will be prudent to find out what would the future mean for the BJP.
"Narendra Modi and his party have been in power since 2014 but in the last nine and half years, it played anti-establishment challenging a political phenomenon of pluralism and left liberalism as founded by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But Jan 22 will mark its end; the BJP can no longer cast itself as opponents of the Congress establishment....Political Hinduism is now the system, its the establishment," says Assam-based Ashutosh Talukdar.
Independent surveys by TV channels and research agencies lately have said that even among those who say they will vote against the BJP and could vote for Congress, the grand old party's decision to stay away from Jan 22 mega event is erroneous and ill-advised. Politicians often reluctantly go to many social and political functions, and so the Congress leaders should have gone for it is the refrain.
But a few days ago the Congress party issued a statement saying they cannot be part of an RSS-BJP event while they respect Supreme Court verdict in 2019 on temple construction at a site where the Babri Masjid stood.
Electorally, the BJP may reap political benefits in 2024 polls and the Congress may lose some more Hindu votes; but in terms of a nation and its futuristic vision now the challenge will be to ensure that the 'moral perspectives or mindset of Hindus' must be made to be reasonable.
Achieving the Temple in the disputed site and getting it constructed are only initial parts of the story. The next phase is to ensure that Ram temple built up on the debris of a 16th century Masjid do not become a new symbol of hatred. Ram stood for character building of an individual and that is why he was called Purushottam (the best among the men).
This is easier said than done, Muslims may look at the temple with a sense of helplessness and agony. On the other hand even Christians may feel awkward and 'unsafe' considering the fact the VHP and RSS leaders have time and again opposed 'conversion' tooth and nail.
In 2021 at a pre-Christmas celebration conference, senior leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Indresh Kumar had said, “Conversion causes differences. It causes hatred, it creates conflict ... so if we want to make the world conflict-free, there is a need to respect all religions.”
So, will this so called Political Hinduism give more prowess to the likes of Kumar?
Of course, Christian leaders say those accusing Christians of using fraudulent means to convert are denigrating people's intelligence essentially because “Faith is an individual’s choice".
Will such thinking have acceptability or now continue to prevail in future in world's largest democracy?
"The belief that Hindus must necessarily understate their faith and their civilisation wasn’t created by the post-Independence Congress. But it was made into a State ideology by Jawaharlal Nehru to the point that even the National Democratic Alliance government of 1998-2004 in which the BJP was the senior partner felt obliged to seriously downplay its Hindu credentials," says BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta.
"This is why the consolidation of the Narendra Modi regime after 2014 has been a moment of self-realisation for Hindus", he notes.
The BJP leaders say the ruling dispensation is aware of the responsibilities as bestowed upon them on this occasion of national jubilation and triumph for the Hindus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested more than once it heralds a new era for the country.
This also means -- almost without saying that - resolving the decade-old dispute was hugely important for Indians to ensure communal amity.
"After 1947 Partition and creation of Pakistan, India has seen numerous riots between Hindus and Muslims including in Gujarat, the native state of India's PM Modi. No country can attain greater heights with two major religious groups in constant suspicion of each other. With the Ram Mandir inauguration, all these should end," says Tushar Bhadra from Modi's parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.
But he also hastens to add the Nov 9, 2019 Supreme Court verdict and now the construction of the temple has brought "certain homogenisation" of the Hindu right in tune with a BJP-led dominant political system.
This will provide greater momentum to RSS’s ideological world view. This could mean a new set up of democracy too.
Will this bring in more Hindus to exercise their electoral franchise and that too in favour of the BJP?
But there is apprehension in some quarters that the turnout among Muslim voters both men and women might decline further as was apprehended by some estimates after 2019 elections.
There is another key feature in terms of study about polarisation. The greater embrace of Hindutva constituency has continued to grow and lower-caste Hindu communities have been brought in its fold.
This has created new threats for pro-Dalit political parties such as BSP of a former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
"It is being suggested that the Ayodhya temple will also symbolise the beginnings of a new, modern India that will blend its cultural Hindu underpinnings with the passage to modernity and global leadership. In effect, India’s Hindu community will see a shift from what is called Dhimmitude and reclaim its status as a proud civilisation.
The extent to which the Ram temple in Ayodhya in which large numbers of Hindus invested a great deal of emotion and political capital lives up to its potential will be closely monitored in the coming decades. The question, however, arises, as to why this Hindu consensus was slow in manifesting itself," writes Swapan Dasgupta, BJP leader.
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