"I realised that I was just a charioteer. The main messenger of the Rath Yatra was the chariot itself" : L K Advani

I realised that I was just a charioteer. The main messenger of the Rath Yatra was the chariot itself

Advani, Modi, Mrs Kamala Advani, Vijay Goel 

Speaking about the Ram Mandir 'Pran Pratishtha', former home minister and veteran BJP leader LK Advani said the inauguration of Ayodhya's Ram Temple was a "fulfillment of a divine dream".

This statement is part of LK Advani's article, dedicated to the Ram Temple, which will be published in Rashtradharma, a Hindi literature magazine

"When Narendra Modi consecrates the (Lord Ram's idol at the) temple, he will represent every citizen of our India. I pray that this temple inspires all Indians to adopt the qualities of Shri Ram," says Advani. 

"Today the Rath Yatra completed 33 years. When we started the Rath Yatra on the morning of September 25, 1990, we did not know that the faith in Lord Ram with which we were starting this Yatra would take the form of a movement in the country," he said.

"A few days after the Rath Yatra started, I realised that I was just a charioteer. The main messenger of the Rath Yatra was the chariot itself and was worthy of worship because it was going to Shri Ram's birthplace Ayodhya to fulfill the sacred purpose of building the temple," he added.  Advani believed that the movement was the "most decisive and transformative event" in his political journey as it allowed him to “re-discover India and, in the process, re-understand himself.”

Blogger with Advani: 2014 in his Parliament office

BJP backed Hindu groups seeking restoration of Ram temple at Ayodhya, and this was a game-changer

New Ram temple will certainly symbolize Hindu resurgence in India

An overwhelming section of Indians no longer cherish the 'Left-liberal spirit' of so-called religious tolerance.

On Jan. 22, when the solemn consecration ceremony of a grand Ram temple takes place in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, much of the credit will go to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and hardline Hindu groups that want to establish Hindu hegemony within the South Asian nation of 1.4 billion people.

The demand for the temple in the city, which Hindus believe is the birthplace of their revered deity Lord Ram, was pushed into mainstream politics in 1983.

The BJP was founded by two BJP veterans – former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former deputy prime minister L. K. Advani in 1980. 

The Ram temple movement was launched in 1983 under the aegis of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the umbrella body of pro-Hindu groups in the country along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or World Hindu Council.

(Article published in UCAN.....

Link  )

In 1989, the BJP passed a resolution saying that Mughal emperor Babar had destroyed the original temple at the site in 1528 and constructed a mosque, the Babri Masjid, in its place. Muslims said they had worshipped there for generations until 1949 when some Hindus placed an idol of Ram in the mosque and began to worship it.

This dispute, which goes back more than a century, led to one of India's thorniest court cases as the two religious groups fought a legal battle over who should control the site.

The BJP backed Hindu groups seeking restoration of a temple at the disputed site and this proved a political game-changer.

“It seemed like a pipedream then as India was wedded to strong secular and ultra-left ideologies. In the Christian-dominated northeast region, we never thought we would see a temple coming up in Ayodhya in our lifetime,” said Ashutosh Talukdar, an officegoer from Guwahati city in Assam state.

Talukdar remembers contributing Rs. 500, which would have amounted to $50 in 1983, for making the bricks that would be used to build the Ayodhya temple.

Staunch Hindus like Talukar believed the BJP would help restore the temple and their support propelled the party to 85 seats in the 543-seat Indian parliament in 1989 from a mere two seats four years ago.

Advani launched a Ram rath yatra (chariot journey) through the length and breadth of the nation campaigning for the restoration of the temple. He was arrested in Bihar state before he could reach Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya lies.

This changed the BJP’s political fortunes. By 1991, it became India's principal opposition party by winning 120 parliamentary seats. The temple movement spread across the country and thousands of frenzied Hindus demolished the dilapidated mosque structure on Dec. 6, 1992.

The BJP came to power in a coalition with smaller parties in 1996 and 1998, but it kept the construction of the temple on the back burner, although it was one of its top poll promises. And although it swept to power on its own steam in 2014 and 2019, the BJP now led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not seem to give primacy to the temple construction – the 2019 poll manifesto merely said: “We reiterate our stand on Ram temple.”

The legal disputes, including one about who owned the land on which the demolished mosque stood, continued to be heard by courts.

In a verdict on Nov. 9, 2019, the Supreme Court awarded the title of the site in its entirety to infant Lord Rama, who is also considered a “juridical person.”  It held that the site was of religious significance for the devotees of Lord Ram, as they believed he was born at the disputed site.

The top court also directed the Modi government to set up a trust to build the temple. In the run-up to the fast-approaching parliamentary elections, the Modi government has set the stage for the consecration of the temple. The BJP is looking for a third consecutive term in power and knows the Ram temple will prove a “force multiplier” as also a polarizing factor.

For ordinary Indians, especially middle-class Hindus, seeing a temple in Ayodhya is a moment of pride and satisfaction. It has restored their pride, both religious and national. Muslims too appear to have accepted the Supreme Court verdict albeit with mixed feelings.

Modi’s critics accuse him of overseeing an unprecedented consolidation of power by muzzling the section of media critical of him, eroding the independence of the judiciary and avoiding parliamentary scrutiny. But an overwhelming section of Hindu India is not complaining.

The Congress and other opposition parties do not appear to have any idea of how to stop the Modi juggernaut in a newly polarized India, which no longer cherishes the left-liberal spirit of religious tolerance and pluralism.