5th Aug 2020 ~ Boomi Puja for magnificent Temple of Sree Rama at Janmasthan

*  அங்கணெடு மதிள்புடைசூழ் அயோத்தியென்னும்  அணிநகரத்து  

        உலகு அனைத்தும் விளக்கும் சோதி*

‘mandir wahi banayenge !’

Ramayanam is the undiluted history – greatest Ithihasa Purana of Bhagwan Sree Rama.   In this Epic, Srimad Valmiki   narrates the journey of Virtue to annihilate vice. This epic poem Ramayana is a smriti which is translated as "from memory".  Sree Rama was born in the holy land of Ayodhya .. ..  Maryadha purush - perfect man’s adherence to dharma, Lord Rama is the epitome of all virtues and the perfect human being who abandoned the throne and served exile in the forest for the sake of honour of his beloved father.

Thiru Ayodhya, also known as Saket is the ancient and holy city where Lord Sri Rama, the hero of Sri Ramayana was born.  Ayodhya  was the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom.  Ayodhya is on the  banks of the river Sarayu.  Valmiki is  believed to have begun writing the Ramayana in Ayodhya. Its opening chapters recount the magnificence of the city, the glories of its monarch and the virtues, wealth and loyalty of its people. Geographically it is in Uttar Pradesh closer to  Faizabad city.  Hopefully Covid fears would end soon and all devotees should be celebrating – there is more significant reason now !  

August 5 is the most significant date on which Ram Mandir ‘bhoomi pujan’  will take place in Ayodhya.  We sincerely pray Lord Sri Rama, that Covid becomes a thing of the past, is totally eradicated and We are able to worship at the magnificent temple at His Birthplace ~ the Janmasthan Temple.

பண்ணையும் ஆயமும், திரளும் பாங்கரும்,

கண் அகன் திருநகர் களிப்புக் கைம்மிகுந்து,

எண்ணெயும், களபமும், இழுதும், நானமும்,

சுண்ணமும், தூவினார் - வீதிதோறுமே.

நற்பண்புகள் அனைத்துக்கும் சிகரம் ஸ்ரீராமபிரான்.  அற்புதமான நகரம் திரு அயோத்தி.  தசரத சக்ரவர்த்திக்கு இக்ஷ்வாகு குலத்தனமாம் இராமனும் இலக்குவண பரத சத்ருக்கணனும் பிறந்த  செய்தியை அரசவை காவலர்கள்  யானைமீதேறி முரசறைந்து அறிவித்தனர்.  மக்கள் அளக்கமுடியாத இன்பம் கொண்டனர்.  பெண்கள் கூட்டத்திலும்,  ஆண்கள்  கூட்டத்திலும்    இடமகன்ற அந்த அழகிய அயோத்தி மாநகரத்திலே, களிப்பு உவகை உற்று,  மகிழ்ச்சி மேலிட்டு - ; எண்ணெயும் கலவைச்  சாந்து, வெண்ணெய்  புனுகு   வகைகளையும்;  பரிமளப் பொடி வகைகளையும்;  மக்கள் ஆனந்தத்தில் ஒவ்வொரு வீதியிலும் தூவினார்கள்.  இராஜ்யத்துக்கு அழகு வாரிசுகள்   பிறந்த   மகிழ்ச்சியால்   வீதிதோறும் மக்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியைக் கொண்டாடினர்.  ‘’எண்ணெய்  சுண்ணம் எதிரெதிர்  தூவிட’’  என பெரியாழ்வார் இதனை விவரிக்கிறார்.  .

On 9^th Nov 2019, came a happy ending for all and more specially for the devouts in the Ayodhya case by the Supreme Court of India.  The Apex Court ordered the disputed land (2.77 acres) to be handed over to a trust (to be created by Government of India) to build the Ram Janmabhoomi (reverred as the birthplace of Hindu deity, Ram) temple.   Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji  and a host of other VIPs,  will attend the ground-breaking ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, the temple trust said. Grand preparations are on the ceremony, which will revolve around the installation of a 40 kg silver brick as the foundation stone by the Prime Minister, said the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, which has been tasked with the temple building.

The upcoming Ram Temple in Ayodhya will stand tall at 161 feet, and have three floors supported by 318 pillars.   Prime Minister Shri  Narendra Modiji  will be attending the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony of Ram Temple's in Ayodhya on August 5.  Only Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, will participate in the ceremony as per the protocol.  The other names of guests who will grace the occasion include Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, Krishna Gopal, Indresh Kumar, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, former chief minister, and former Governor Kalyan Singh, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former Union ministers Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Jagatguru Rambhadracharya, Jaibhan Singh Powaiya, Vinay Katiyar, Radhe Radhe Baba Indore, Yug Purush Parmanand Ji, according to sources.

Although people from every walk of life wish to participate in the historic ceremony, especially those who have been associated with the Ram Mandir movement, only 200 people will be allowed to remain present on this auspicious occasion in view of the COVID-19 guidelines.

The construction of a magnificent temple at Janmasthan has come after centuries of difficulties, legal wrangles and life sacrifices.  The Supreme Court decision came three decades after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) performed the Shilanyas at Ram Janmabhoomi, putting in place the first stone for the Ram Mandir. “That was also on November 9 in 1989.  Remember that all over the country ‘bricks’ for Ram Temple were worshipped “Ram Shila Pooja” – a grand pooja occurred at Thiruvallikkeni too in a massive stage set before the Kairavini pushkarini – prominent among the organisers were Swami Haridas Giri.  All the  residents of Thiruvallikkeni happily participated in 10 day long pooja and rites in the massive pandal where the ‘shilas’ worshipped at various places of worship were collected and poojas performed.  

In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi gave in to the Muslim zealots in the Shah Bano affair. Overruling a secular court’s decision that repudiated wife Shah Bano was entitled to alimony from her ex-husband, he enacted a law abolishing the alimony provision in conformity with the Sharia. Since India, unlike purely secular states, already had religion-based civil codes, this concession merely brought the minor matter of alimony under the purview of the prevailing arrangement.   Months later,   Rajiv Gandhi trying to restore and playing some vote bank politics    ordered the locks on the Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya removed. Until then, a priest had been permitted to perform puja once a year for the idols installed there in 1949.  Fundamentally, this decision didn’t alter the Ayodhya equation. Architecturally, there had been a structure built on the remains of a Temple that had existed ~ and litigation continued.

Gold bricks, Silver bricks, sacred sand from various places – from Rameswar, Thiruvarangam and many other temples are reaching Ayodhya to be placed for the construction of new Temple and the city is being spruced with beautiful murals.

In Dec 2017, the Science Channel — a part of Discovery Inc. — released a short video clip analysing the land bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka based on scientific evidence. The video clip released on Twitter claimed that the bridge, known to Hindus as the Ram Setu (the bridge of Lord Rama), was man-made. The short video has geologist Alan Lester, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Erin Argyilan, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Indiana University Northwest, and others discussing the fact that the sandbar between the two nations is natural and that the stones covering the sandbar have been brought from far and set on top. Practising Hindus would know that this incident is described in the Yuddha Kanda of the Ramayana — the army of Rama, the Vanara Sena, created the bridge after writing the Lord’s name on the rocks.

India does not need Western academicians to validate the scientific nature of Hindu beliefs. However, this matter is significant owing to the stance of the then Congress-led UPA government. In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in September 2007, to dismantle the Ram Setu so that the Setusamudram shipping canal project could be built, the UPA government stated that “… mythological texts, which formed an important part of ancient Indian literature … cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the event.” In this case, the UPA misused the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to further its agenda and deny the existence of Lord Rama so that they could deny the existence of the Ram Setu in the process. Thanks to consistent pressure from the Sangh Parivar, this affidavit was later withdrawn. The Director of Monuments in the ASI, who had signed the affidavit in the Supreme Court, later stated that the affidavit was prepared by the Ministry of Law and Justice and he was asked to sign it.

The idea of secularism was good on paper as long as its practitioners believed it served the purpose of separating the affairs of the state from religion. However, within a few years of the creation of the republic, it became a tool that was used to either guilt-trip the majority religion or to eke out disproportionate concessions from them. Over time, Nehruvian secularism descended into what it truly stood for — naked anti-Hinduism. Although this transition to rank anti-Hinduism seems like a recent development, the origins can be traced back to as early as 1951 with the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple.

Aug 5 is going to be landmark .. .. every Hindu will celebrate this event with pride and devotion.  Hindu temples in North America will hold a virtual national prayer to celebrate the foundation laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, religious groups have announced. In consonance with the Indian tradition of distributing sweets on celebrations and during festivities, the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has made special arrangements for laddoos to be distributed on the occasion of Ram Mandir's 'Bhumi Pujan' ceremony. The Trust will be sending the Bikaneri Laddoos to all embassies in Delhi, besides distributing them in Ayodhya. According to the sources of the Ram Temple Trust, orders have been placed for four lakh packets.

On the other hand, in various 'mutths' and 'akhadas' of Ayodhya, sweets and laddoos are being prepared, which will be distributed among the residents of the city after the 'Bhumi Pujan'.  Laddoos will be kept  in 1,11,000 small containers of steel and each container will have at least 11 laddoos. A whooping total 51 lakh laddoos are being prepared in the temple town.

CM Yogi Adityanath in a meeting with seers had appealed to the people to mark the occasion as 'Diwali' and light earthen lamps on the eve of the ceremony. As per an estimation around three lakh diyas will illuminate the temple town on August 4 and 5. The occasion will be live-streamed on Doordarshan so that the devotees across the globe can attend the grand event and religious activities like bhajans will commence from Monday. [and the Commies objected to this – in a Nation where so many religious events have been live telecast !] 

Meanwhile, roads, railings and walls surrounding the temple area are being painted with murals and authorities have stated that all arrangements will be made keeping social distancing and other safety guidelines in mind due to the escalating coronavirus pandemic.  The symbolism of August 5, 2020, should signify the death of this kind of fake secularism — where one community bears the brunt of a project that was created to prevent them from uniting its people. Let the return of Lord Rama in Ayodhya bring light to all, especially to those ignorant souls who revel in creating narratives and barriers to prevent a religion from staking claim to what  is  rightfully theirs.

Let us pray and celebrate this significant day – pray that sooner we are able to worship Maryada Purush Sree Rama Chandra Murthi in the glorious Temple that would stand at His very birthplace ~ Janmasthan, ‘mandir wahi banayenge!’

Adiyen dhasan – S. Sampathkumar

1.8.2020.