Ayodhya: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the Ram Mandir on Monday in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, a prevailing sentiment among Hindu Indians, whether they attended the consecration ceremony or not, is the belief that the Hindu Rashtra (religious Hindu state) has begun.
Speaking outside the temple after the consecration, Modi said that January 22, 2024, is not merely a date on the calendar but heralds the advent of a new era. He also sought forgiveness from the deity for not building the temple for 500 years.
'I seek forgiveness from Prabhu Shri Ram....there must have been some shortcomings in our efforts, sacrifice and penance that we could not do so (construction of Ram Temple) for ages,'' the PM said.
Many believe that the consecration of the temple, embodies the triumph of Modi’s muscular Hindu politics ahead of the Parliamentary elections in April-May 2024 because the construction of the Ram Temple was one of the key campaign promises of the 2019 manifesto of BJP including the abrogation of article 370 and the implementation of UCC (Uniform Civil Code).
Nearly 7,500 people, including elite industrialists, politicians and movie stars attended the ritual with a military helicopter showering flower petals.
Devotees present at the ceremony said that they firmly believe it is the beginning of the Hindu Rashtra and they eagerly anticipate the Prime Minister's declaration to replace the Indian constitution and formally designate India as a Hindu country.
“We want PM to declare India as a Hindu Rashtra, the Indian constitution will be changed and the minorities will be converted to Hinduism,” a priest told The Himalayan Post during the ceremony.
The Ram temple is just the beginning; all other places across India where mosques are built on temples will be demolished, and temples will be erected, he said.
“We trust PM Modi as he fulfil the promises,” he added.
Temple occupants. Photo By Ashu Aneja
Yamini Rathore, a 28-year-old content strategist from Jammu city, shared with The Himalayan Post that she, too, believes the Hindu Rashtra has started, as she could sense the energies of Lord Ram spread across the country, bringing the community together.
“We felt the energy in our office; we performed Pooja (Hindu prayers) and sensed that indeed, Lord Rama has come back," she said.
“But what annoyed me was the imposition of our religion on Minorities. During the ceremony say; one of the colleague was forcing a Muslim mate to chant ‘JaI Shere Ram’ (Hail Lord Ram) but he has never forced us to say ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ (Allah Is the Greatest), she said.
I believe in India’s secularism but what I see in the contemporary world is that it’s the people who wanted the temple to be built there as they believe that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple. BJP just used to sentiment and succeeded, she added.
The ‘dispute’ started in December 1949, when authorities in UP seized the mosque after members of a right-wing Hindu group placed idols of Ram inside. Court orders barred the removal of the idols, and the structure’s use as a mosque effectively ceased.
Simultaneously, BJP launched a nationwide campaign in 1990 to build the temple.
The BJP campaign climaxed in a rally in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, when a mob climbed the mosque and smashed its domes with axes and hammers, levelling the entire structure. The event triggered sectarian riots in several parts of India, killing about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
The dispute ended in 2019 when, in a controversial decision, Supreme Court called the mosque’s destruction “an egregious violation” of the law but granted the site to Hindus while giving Muslims a different plot of land.