As 22nd January is approaching, the holy city of Ayodhya is decked up for the Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Shri Ram Mandir. The construction of Shri Ram’s holy abode is ongoing in full swing and preparations for the grand welcome of the God are underway. As the temple town gears up for welcoming Lord Ram, Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya has reported about an interesting ritual that dates back to the installation of Ram Lalla and continues to this day.
Following India’s independence from British rule, an event changed the course of the centuries-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri structure dispute in Ayodhya in favour of the Hindu community. Back in December 1949, a idol of Lord Ram appeared inside the Babri structure.
The installation of the Ram Lalla’s idol in the Babri edifice was less of a “miracle” and more of a story of human genius and eternal devotion.
For more than a century, Ayodhya’s saints had diligently sought to reclaim the disputed site, which is a sacred Hindu place of worship before the construction of a mosque by Babur’s general, Mir Baqi in 1528. In their reclamation efforts, the Hindu saints planned to place an image of Lord Ram beneath the central dome of the Babri Masjid, perform “pran pratishtha,” and declare it “achal” (immovable).
Mahant Abhiram was the priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, a small temple built on a chabutra just outside the domes of the Babri structure, as well as the head priest of Ayodhya’s historic Hanuman Garhi temple. Das used to reside near the Singhdwar of the Hanuman Garhi Temple. Notably, the chabutra was used by Hindus to offer prayers and prasad to Shri Ram. It is said that Mahant Abhiram often dreamed about a grand Ram Mandir “replacing” the Babri ‘Masjid’. The plan was prepared, and the auspicious Tithi of Shukla Tritiya of the Hindu calendar’s Poush month, which fell on December 22, was chosen to execute it.
According to the Swarajya report, continuous hymn singing, or akhand kirtan and Ramcharitmanas recitations began outside the illegal Babri structure weeks before the placement of Ram Lalla’s image, causing tension among local Muslims. The Muslims then approached the district magistrate, who ordered an investigation by the city magistrate. Thakur Gurudutt, the city magistrate, directed the sadhus to stop their activities but was told that his orders were overlooked.
Amarnath Pandey, 62, a resident of Panji Tola, told Swati Goel Sharma that visiting sadhus, including those from Gorakhshpeeth, questioned the local Mahants about limiting Ramcharitmanas recitations to Hanuman Garhi and not holding them at Ram Janmabhoomi. Pandey recalled his father telling him that the Mahants encouraged the public to attend the recitations in large numbers, ensuring a crowd of at least 1,008 people at all times. “The Mahants said low attendance would hurt their goal of reclaiming Ram Janmabhoomi and leave them humiliated,” Pandey said.
In conversation with Sharma, Shakti Singh, grandson of Thakur Gurudutt said that since a 1934 communal clash, Hindus had been barred from the Babri structure’s domes, which were secured with an iron gate and a Muslim man used to guard the site during the night.
Entering the mosque and placing Shri Ram’s idol was fraught with danger, however, Ram Bhakts have been no cowards in facing any danger to uphold the honour of their God. A sadhu named Ram Das was given a bag containing a idol of Lord Ram and ritual items such as diya-batti, a bell and camphor on the midnight of 22nd-23rd December 1949. He, however, was confronted by the Muslim guard at the Babri site. Ram Das is said to have injured the guard with the bell and proceeded to install the image of Lord Ram and perform the pooja rituals.
Meanwhile, announcements were made that Lord Hanuman had summoned his devotees to Hanuman Garhi Temple. Achyut Shukla told Swarajya that some others, including Mahants Abhiram and Paramhans, secured Shri Ram’s idol with iron nails and mesh, making it difficult to remove.
The next morning, rumours spread like fire that a miracle unfolded last night. “The story went like this: late at night, the Muslim guard at the ‘mosque’ witnessed a blinding light, so bright that he lost his vision for some time. Moments later, the light dimmed and he saw a child playing under the central dome. After witnessing the miracle, the guard fell unconscious. When he awoke, the Ram Lalla idol and worship materials were present,” Swarajya report reads.
Jawaharlal Nehru ordered the removal of Ram Lalla’s idol, how local officials cleverly resisted
As the miracle infuriated the local Muslims, they informed Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s office in New Delhi about the incident. Subsequently, Nehru entrusted Govind Ballabh Pant, then chief minister of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), with removing the idols and locking the Babri structure again. Nehru reportedly sent a note to the Uttar Pradesh government, directing the administration to remove the idols of Ram Lalla immediately from the precincts of the Babri edifice. The note had mysteriously vanished in 2005.
While Nehru was bent on getting the idols removed, Thakur Gurudutt prevented Pant from entering Ayodhya. When Pant reached Faizabad, Gurudatt asked him to go back saying that there could be a threat to his life and riots might erupt. Although Pant returned, he was angered by this and said that only those who could ensure his security deserved to be in service.
Days before resigning, Thakur Gurudutt initiated proceedings under Section 145 of the CrPC, ordering the attachment of the Babri structure and effectively restricting the entry of Muslims there. After he tendered his resignation, Gurudutt was made to vacate his government residence. It is said that his grandfather’s luggage was thrown out of the house. The Swrajya report says that the same Lorpur House had served as the meeting point for planning the event. Later, Gurudutt joined the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and became the party’s Faizabad district chief.
Interestingly, the District Magistrate of Faizabad, K.K. Nayar played a significant role in stalling the orders to remove the Ram Lalla image from the disputed site. Nayar said that since the site was ‘disturbed’, removing the idol of Lord Ram could trigger riots in the city.
Nayar told the central and state government that there was a popular demand to open the Temple’s gates. He also appeared distressed that a popular slogan had become “Nayar anyay karna chhod do, Nayar Bhagwan ka phatak khol do.”
The outcome of Nayar’s efforts was that the idols were not removed and remained in the same spot they were originally placed. Later, on January 19, 1950, an injunction was issued preventing the government from removing them, which was later upheld by the High Court five years later. Although permission to conduct worship was granted, the inner courtyard was locked. After Nayar resigned from his post, he joined the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and became a member of parliament from Baharaich in 1967 receiving 100,203 votes. A comprehensive OpIndia report on KK Nayar’s role in the cause of Dharma can be read here.
Amarnath Pandey told Swarajya that the local Hindus pressured the administration to allow offering Bhog to Bhagwan Ram and slogans like “Bhagwan ka tala kholo, Bhagwan hamare bhookhe hain” (‘open the locks of Babri, our God is hungry’)” were raised. Following this, a bhandari (cook) was allowed inside the Babri structure.
On 23rd December 1949, an FIR was registered over the break-in, installation of the Ram Lalla image and the subsequent gathering of Hindus. The FIR named Ram Das, one Ram Shukla Das and later, Mahant Abhiram Das, Mahant Ram Chandra Das Param Hans and Mahant Vrindavan Das as accused.
According to the FIR, the accused placed an idol of Lord Ram and wrote ‘Sita Ram’ on the mosque’s outer and inner walls. Early in the morning, a crowd of 5,000-6,000 people chanting bhajans gathered at the site and attempted to enter the Babri structure.
The miracle of human ingenuity celebrated to this date as “Bhagwan Pratakya Mahotsav”
Since the image of Ram Lalla was placed in the masjid premise in 1950, an annual celebration called “Bhagwant Prakatya Mahotsav” has been held in Ayodhya uninterrupted.
A grand shobha yatra is taken out in the sacred city, with children dressed as Lord Ram and his three brothers – Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrughan before ending at Ram Janmabhoomi, where a pooja of Lord Ram’s idol installed there is performed. According to Achyut Shukla, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Sewa Samiti, the murti of Ram Lalla was presented by a princess from a royal family from Balrampur.
Notably, this year the Shukla Tritiya of the Poush month, the Tithi that was chosen to place Shri Ram’s idol at the disputed site is falling on January 14. On this day, the rituals at the Ram temple in Ayodhya will commence in addition to the observance of the “Prakatya Mahotsav”.
The idol of Shri Ram Lalla (Lord Ram in his childlike form) will be consecrated on 22nd January. On January 22, Shri Ram will be seated in his divinely grand temple in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
