The consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was at a very basic level considered to be a closure to what had been a dispute that had dominated the politics and culture in India at least from the 1980s. The dispute, adjudicated by the Supreme Court, after years of mass mobilisation, was sought to be put to rest under the sharp sunshine of a January day in Ayodhya. The city is poised to be a pilgrimage centre, and the throng of devotees since the consecration has been in record breaking numbers.
Closure is never far from calls for new beginnings. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the occasion spoke of a new mantra — ‘Dev se desh; Ram se rashtra’ (from God to country, and from Ram to nation), a reference to bridging the divides of religion, caste, creed and region in India. The fact that the Ram Temple was built after a Supreme Court verdict was also underlined in Mr. Modi’s speech, as “restoring the trust of the people in justice”.
Mindful of the dispute that presaged the construction of the temple (Babri Masjid, which stood on the land, was demolished on December 6, 1992 by kar sevaks), he said the opening of the temple was a moment not just of ‘vijay’ (victory) but also of ‘vinay’ (humility), and invited those who opposed the Ram Janmabhoomi movement to “visit the temple and experience the feeling”. The Ram Temple, on the date of its consecration, therefore, was already being seen as more than a house of faith by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. The consecration was seen by many as an exercise that would establish an RSS-centric cosmology — cultural nationalism and a sacred geography in India.
