22 January 2024 is etched in the annals of Bharatvarsh’s glorious history after Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha concluded in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. PM Modi performed the consecration ceremony, reinstalling Ram Lalla to his rightful abode after 496 long agonising years.
Celebrations swept across the country as millions of devotees took to the streets and visited temples, small and big, to mark the completion of Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla and pay their tributes to God on his homecoming to Ayodhya.
श्री राम, जय राम, जय-जय राम! pic.twitter.com/j3tXMBm4cF
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 22, 2024
Chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ thundered across the length and breadth of the country, infusing energies and feelings of triumph seldom witnessed in such vast multitudes of people simultaneously and organically. The prophecy “Ram Lalla Aayenge, Mandir Wahin Banayenge” has finally been fulfilled.
Even as the country is drowned in the celebrations of Lord Ram’s homecoming, it is a sobering moment to reflect upon the centuries of struggles that have brought the Ram Mandir to fruition. In his speech after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, one that would be remembered for decades if not centuries to come, PM Modi emphasised the sacrifices made to materialise the dream of building a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“After centuries of unprecedented patience, countless sacrifices, renunciations and penances, our Prabhu Ram has come…” PM Modi said in his speech following the Pran Pratishtha ceremony. He spoke about the resilience of Hindus, their unwavering devotion to Lord Ram, and their indomitable spirit in reclaiming what had always been theirs.
Indeed, it has been an incredible moment to witness. It is a triumph of Dharma over Adharma, a victory of pluralism over Islamic iconoclasm, for Lord Ram embodies the abiding symbol of India’s civilisation that has always stood for freedom, pluralism, tolerance, and diversity. Lord Ram’s homecoming was, therefore, symbolic of the country’s ushering into Ram Rajya, a vision of perfect social harmony, economic justice and political freedom.
For many, the Pran Pratishtha ceremony is the culmination of the centuries-old struggle to reclaim Lord Ram’s birthplace and reinstall God again to his rightful abode, but it is much more profound than that. The return of Lord Ram to Ram Janmabhoomi is a tribute to the thousands of devotees who sacrificed their everything to continue fighting for a site that was forcibly usurped by Islamic zealots who humiliated the natives by building a mosque atop a preexisting temple.
Ram Lalla Virajman at the holy site is, therefore, an expression of the unprecedented grit, dauntless determination, and extraordinary courage of the millions who ensured the fight for the Janmabhoomi is not lost in the vicissitudes of the time, and who instilled a sense of obligation to Dharma among their progenies to persist with the struggle until their goal of liberating the birth-site of their God was achieved.
But as India’s bloody history poignantly reveals, the Ram Janmabhoomi site is but one example of how Islamic iconoclasm and extremism had subjugated non-Muslims in India. There are countless sites, most notably the Krishna birthplace in Mathura and Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, where this iconoclasm becomes incongruously jarring. India’s history, even through the Marxist-Leftist lens, illustrates in great detail how the Muslim invaders from the Middle East, whose original goal was to spread the flag of Islam, pillaged and plundered, raped and massacred the idol-worshipping Hindus in India.
After the religious persecution faced by the Muslim rulers, the Indic civilisation came under assault from the wily Britishers, who economically deprived the country to the extent that it was reduced to contributing less than 1 per cent to the global GDP when they left the country in 1947 from once being at a high of 27 per cent during the 17th century.
One would have imagined India’s independence from the Britishers would provide a much-needed breather to the Indic civilisation that endured a relentless wave of assault, first by the Muslim invaders and then by the cruel British rule. It was natural to assume that after the Britishers left the country, the Hindus and other natives would finally be granted the independence to reinvigorate their civilisation and allowed to reclaim their battered cultural heritage. Instead, the assault continued unabated, with Hindus being guilt-tripped for something as fundamental as wearing their identity on their sleeves, greeting each other with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, and reclaiming their destroyed temples and usurped lands.
The renovation of Somnath Temple was disapproved of, for it unnerved the socialist politicians who thought it would revive Hindu resurgence among the masses. The Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was also relegated to oblivion, with politicians wary that its resolution could lead to widespread riots and violence in the country. Lies and rhetorics aimed at depriving Hindus of reclaiming their places of worship took centre stage as the thought leaders, civil society, and media—all of them thoroughly entrenched in the prevailing governmental system—took it upon themselves to gaslight and manipulate Hindus to dissuade them from standing up for their religio-cultural imperatives.
Seen in this context, the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya has been a remarkable victory for Hindus and adherents of all Vedic faiths that have grown restive with the policy of some political parties to indulge in minority appeasement, even at the expense of justice and morality. It has kickstarted a process of healing for a civilisation that remained resilient and irrepressible to centuries of subjugation.
Of course, there are other battles to be won, be it the Gyanvapi complex or the Shahi Idgah building, but one thing is for sure. The Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha has instilled a sense of belief among Hindus that they could not only overturn centuries of wrongs, first wrought by the tyrannical Mughals, followed by the exploitative Britishers, and then by the Marxist-leftist politicians who governed independent India for decades, but also reclaim their honour and the places of worship that form the spiritual epicentre of Hindu civilisation.
Maybe in the distant future, the significance of January 22 will extend beyond the celebration of Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha at the revered Ram Janmbhoomi. It might also be remembered as a day that realised the essence of devotion (bhakti) and inspired Ram devotees to engage in more extensive karseva, contributing significantly to the ongoing restoration of civilisation. This epoch-making triumph could pave the way for even greater accomplishments in the times to come. A wounded civilisation has finally found a focal point to revolve around and set itself on the path to greater glory.
