The sung and unsung heroes of Ayodhya movement

 

 

 

THE movement for a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya over the years has seen many key players from time to time carrying forward the campaign. The known faces are the one that have received their share of fame and publicity but there are some who remain in the realms of oblivion.

 

Mahant Raghubar Das: One of the initiators of the temple movement who filed a petition in the Faizabad Court for permission to build a Ram temple adjacent to the Babri mosque. 

Several saints in Ayodhya still give credit to Mahant Raghubar Das for initiating the legal battle that is culminating in the construction of the Ram temple. However, there are many who prefer that he remains unhonoured and unsung.

 

Gopal Singh Visharad : One who ho filed the first case on the temple dispute in Independent India in 1950.

Visharad was a resident of Balrampur district and the head of the Hindu Mahasabha in the district. He had been stopped by the police from going to the Ram Janmabhoomi and he submitted a petition seeking unhindered access to Hindus to the Janambhoomi.

 

K K Nair: A 1930 batch IAS officer, who was District Magistrate of Faizabad when the idol of Ram Lalla was placed in the disputed complex on the night of December 23, 1949.

 

Nair refused to get the idol removed even though he was asked to do so by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant. Nair had told his political bosses that they would have to remove him before the idol could be removed. A resident of Alleppey in Kerala, Nair opted for voluntary retirement in 1952 and was elected to the fourth Lok Sabha in 1967 from Bahraich on a Jan Sangh ticket. His wife, Shankuntala Nair was also elected twice from Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat.

 

Mahant Digvijay Nath: The chief priest of the Goraksh temple in Gorakhpur in 1949 led the temple movement after the idol was placed in the disputed complex. The Mahant brought all saints and seers on one platform and drafted the blueprint for the movement which later spread across the country.

 

After his demise in 1969, his successor Mahant Avaidyanath played an important role in the temple movement. Mahant Avaidyanath’s successor is present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who has also played a proactive role in the temple movement. Then there are many commoners, forgotten face of the Ayodhya movement. In the 1990s when the temple movement gained momentum, the then VHP leader Ashok Singhal became the chief architect of Hindutva. Parveen Togadia, then a senior VHP leader, was also known for his proactive role in the temple movement. L K Advani and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, then top BJP leaders, also played key role in the temple movement, giving it the much-needed political push with their party.

 

The BJP’s rise in India politics is directly linked to the temple movement and the role played by these two leaders. Vinay Katiyar, a firebrand Hindu leader, was also the founder of the Bajrang Dal that gave a cutting edge to the temple movement. Katiyar went on to become a three-term MP from Ayodhya. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was another important player in the temple movement. Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambhara led the women brigade in the temple movement. Both were known for their fiery speeches. Cassettes of Rithambhara’s fiery speeches were sold in the market. Talking to IANS, a senior saint of Ayodhya who did not wish to be named, said, “All these people have contributed to the temple movement which has reached a stage where the temple construction is beginning. I feel we should have made it a point to invite all those who are still alive and should have felicitated them.”

 

 

 

ALL invitees to the August 5 foundation stone-laying function for the new Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh will have to carry a mandatory coronavirus-negative certificate, one of the organisers said.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai said that the step was taken as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus situation in the country. “Only those who have a medical certificate that says that they have tested negative for coronavirus will be allowed entry for the ‘bhoomi pujan’,” he said.

Health officials, said that they were fully prepared to test VVIPs.

 

 

EVERY guest who is invited for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony for the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday, will be gifted a silver coin as ‘prasad’. The silver coin, on one side, has the image of Ram Darbar which includes Lord Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman and on the other side is the insignia of trust. The guests will also be given a box of ‘laddoos’ and a photograph of Ram Darbar. According to sources, over 1.25 lakh laddoos, called ‘Raghupati laddoos’ will be distributed to guests, residents of Ayodhya and others on August 5.

 

All the guests from other districts or State, have been asked to reach Ayodhya by Tuesday evening because the borders of the district will be sealed in the evening. A total of 175 people have been invited to the Sri Ram Temple Trust for bhoomi pujan.

 

 

 

 

 

ON August 5, when the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya will take place, a 81-year-old Urmila Chaturvedi, a resident of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, will break her fast after 28 years. When the disputed structure was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992, she had given up eating pledging that she would consume food only when the Ram temple construction will take place.

 

Chaturvedi recounts that she was distressed by the violence that erupted after the disputed structure was demolished in Ayodhya and vowed she would have food only after the construction of the Ram temple with the consent of all stakeholders. Since December 6, 1992, she has been surviving on fruits and spends most of her time reciting Ramayana and chanting prayers.

 

Chaturvedi was happy on the day when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the temple. She sent letters congratulating the Supreme Court judges who pronounced the verdict and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When Urmila Chaturvedi started fasting, she was 53 years old. Her relatives urged her to break the fast, but she was adamant.

 

Chaturvedi says, she wishes to go to Ayodhya and take food only after seeking blessings from Lord Ram. The construction of the Ram temple is like a rebirth for her. She says that she will go to Ayodhya after the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for Ram temple is performed and after taking bath in Sarayu river, she would break her fast.

Family members have also said that they will go along with Chaturvedi to Ayodhya after ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ is performed and would like to partake of good deeds, helping her fulfill the resolve.

 

 

 

 

NEARLY 650 km from Ayodhya, a priest of a temple dedicated to demon king Ravan is eagerly awaiting the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram temple. Tucked away in Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Bisrakh area is a temple dedicated to Ravan, the dark figure in the epic Ramayana who was killed by Lord Ram.

 

Mahant Ramdas of the Ravan temple said that he will distribute sweets after the conclusion of the ‘bhoomi poojan’ ceremony in the temple town of Ayodhya on August 5. “I am very happy that the bhoomi pujan for the temple of Lord Ram is taking place in Ayodhya. After the ceremony, I will distribute ‘ladoos’ and celebrate the happy moment. The bhoomi poojan for the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is indeed a very good development. I am happy as a grand temple will be built there,” he told PTI.

 

Mahant Ramdas said, “If Ravan was not there, then no one would have known about Shri Ram. And in the absence of Lord Ram, no one would have known anything about Ravan”. According to local folklore, Bisrakh is the birthplace of Ravan and, “we call it the Ravan Janambhoomi,” the priest said. Describing Ravan as a knowledgeable person and an expert in many fields, he said, after abducting Sita, he kept her at Ashok Vatika, and did not take her to his palace.

 

“Apart from this, he posted women to guard Sita. If Lord Ram is called ‘maryaadaa purshottam’ (the person who upheld dignity), then I think Ravan also to some extent can be considered as a person who upheld dignity (of people in various aspects),” he said. The temple has idols of Lord Shiva, Parvati and Kuber.