The moment of Ram Lalla’s ‘pran pratishtha’ on January 22, 2024, could have gone two ways.
First, the usual way as any other high-profile event in January. There are several such events throughout the year and, more so, in January – National Youth Day (January 12), Parakram Diwas (January 23) and Republic Day (January 26), to name just a few. This approach was the relatively simpler option.
The second way was significantly much tougher – unite the entire country. Across classes, from those living in penthouses to people living in tents; across regions, castes, demography; generate a unique and unparallelled festive celebration across the country; ignite a sense of civilisational fulfilment in the entire population.
Despite best intentions, it could all have gone the first way. But, we know that what panned out is not just the second way but a phenomenon that none could have imagined. How did this happen?
The main reasons behind this are the ‘sadhana’ and ‘tapasya’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ground mobilisation of the RSS. First consider what the prime minister has done since the beginning of this month.
It all started innocuously, or so it would seem on January 3 with Prime Minister Modi posting a Ram bhajan. And then he also posted on January 4 and 5, and then again and again. This one simple act was a catalyst that broke the self-restraint of Ram bhakts, mentally ingrained through decades or even centuries of conditioning. It was no longer uncool to proudly proclaim our reverence for the ‘maryada purushottam’ in the lingua franca of the masses.
The bhajans and songs that the PM posted soon became a national rage, igniting a chain of all forms of digital adoption. New bhajans were written and shared, old ones started topping national charts and, in a matter of days, the airways were echoing with ‘Ram aayenge’.
Then came PM Modi’s 11-day special ‘anushthan’ that began on January 12 from the Panchavati dham in the holy city of Nashik. The ‘yama-niyama’ that he committed to in the run-up to the ‘pran pratishtha’ entailed strict adherence to moral and ethical conduct. At 73 years of age, with hectic duties of the office of the PM, that Modi would choose to uphold the mandate of the scriptures, galvanised the entire nation – from sages to gurus and from ordinary people to celebrities in blessing him in his ‘yug anushthan’. He not only gave up grain for 11 days, but slept on the floor and observed the entirety of the ‘yama-niyama’ mandate.
And, with the beginning of the ‘yama-niyama’ came the 11-day crisscross across our sacred geography. Uniting all our people, even with their differing traditions, worship methods, languages, local culture, practices into one common, unbroken chain of the oldest continuously living human civilisation. The ambition of this endeavour was audacious.
On January 12, Modi was in Kala Ram Mandir in Panchavati. It is believed that this temple is located at the same spot where Ram stayed with Sita and Laxman. He offered prayers at the temple and listened to the ‘Bhavartha Ramayana’ written in Marathi. It is from this place that Modi also started the cleaning drive in temples across the country.
On January 14, an auspicious day across India, Modi undertook ‘gau puja’ at his residence in Delhi. Revered by Hindus since time immemorial, Gaumta along with Ram have been accepted as foundational to Sanatan Dharma. From our sacred texts to Mahatma Gandhi, all have averred to this faith and belief. The same day, he also took part in Pongal celebrations.
On January 16, Modi visited Lepakshi temple in Andhra Pradesh. Located near the well-known spiritual town of Puttaparthi in Anantapur district, this village is famous for the temple constructed for Veerabhadra, the fiery incarnation of Shiva and the divine bird Jatayu.
Lepakshi, which means ‘Rise, oh bird’ in Telugu, is intricately connected with Ramayana. It is believed that it is at this place, Ram and Laxman met the grievously injured Jatayu and gave agni to its mortal remains. In this temple, Modi chanted bhajans and heard verses from the ‘Ranganatha Ramayana’, the Telugu rendition of the Ramayana.
Modi later performed aarti and puja at the Veerabhadra temple, followed by a puja to Durga and Shiva in the temple premises. Later, a TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) team of Carnatic music artistes rendered Ram bhajans while artistes from Nimmalakunta in Dharmavaram mandal of Satya Sai district performed a puppet show on the Ramayana.
On January 17, Modi was first in Guruvayur temple in Kerala. Dedicated to Guruvayurappan, a form of Vishnu, but locally more popularly as Krishna. Ram is known to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu. This is one of the holiest temples for devotees from the southern states.
Modi prayed at this temple, observing all the formalities, including wearing the prescribed ‘vastram’ of ‘mundu’ and ‘veshti’. At the temple, he performed a ‘thulabharam’ (an offering) with lotus buds.
On the same day, Modi also visited the Thriprayar Shree Ramaswami temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district. The temple is called ‘Dakshin Ayodhya’. Devotees believe that Karimpuzha, on whose banks this temple is located, is the Sarayu river that flowed through Ayodhya in the Treta Yuga.
Ram is believed to have renounced his life here by entering the waters of Karimpuzha and devotees believe that it is the same as Sarayu; poet-saint Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan is believed to have stayed in the premises of this temple while composing his epic ‘Adhyatma Ramayana’. The Thriprayar temple is one of the four in the Nalambala Dharshan (four-temple pilgrimage) where devotees take a pilgrimage to four temples devoted to Rama, Lakshmana, Shatrughna and Bharatha during the month of Karkidakam, also known as month of Ramayana.
Apart from offering prayers as per all rituals and practices, Modi, in the one hour he spent in the Temple, attended a vedic chanting session of children and various bhajan in Malayalam. He also participated in the Meenoottu (offering food to fish) ritual at the temple.
On January 18, PM Modi released a series of commemorative postage stamps dedicated to Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and an album featuring stamps from around the world in honour of Shri Ram. The intricate design of the stamps captures the essence of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir, with six distinct components. These include the Ram Mandir itself, the timeless Choupai ‘Mangal Bhavan Amangal Hari’, a radiant depiction of the sun, the sacred Saryu River, and sculptures found in and around the temple.
On January 20, Modi visited two temples and holy places innately connected with Prabhu Ram. First, he visited the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. It is believed that at this exact place Vibhishan placed the family deity of Prabhu Ram in a reclining posture. It is the same deity that is worshipped till this day. Modi was the first Prime Minister of Republican India to visit this place.
On his arrival at this temple, Modi was accorded a ceremonial poorna kumbha welcome amid Vedic chanting by priests. Honouring our great traditions, PM Modi listened to the recitation of various verses of the ‘Kamba Ramayana’ by scholars at the temple. In fact, Modi sat at Kamba Ramayan Madapam, believed to be the very place where Kamba first sang the Tamil rendition of the epic Ramayana.
Modi also spent some heartwarming moments with the resident Temple elephant ‘Andal’ who not only blessed the Prime Minister but also showcased his musical skills by expertly playing the harmonica.
During his visit, “vastram” and clothes were presented to Mr Modi, a traditional way of a temple acknowledging a devotee’s devoutness. On behalf of the presiding deity, the priests at the ancient temple in Tamil Nadu presented PM Modi with a special gift basket to be taken to Shri Ram in Ayodhya. The basket comprised of various local handlooms and fabrics[1].
On same day, Modi visited the Sri Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. It is at this place that Prabu Ram installed the main lingam of Bhagwaan Shiva. Rameshwaram is one of the four Dhams in Sanatan Dharma and also one among the 12 jyotirlingas.
There are 22 kunds in this temple indictaing the 22 arrows in Prabu Ram;s quiver. Bathing in this kunds is part of the ritual and Modi di exactly that. One by one, he went to each kund and took the holy bath. These 22 Kund Sanam start with the Samundra Snanam at Agni Teerth and Modi, like every other devotee, also started his journey by taking a bath in the Bay of Bengal. Later, Modi took part Shri Ramayna Paryana, listening to eight different traditional Mandalis reciting Ramkatha in Sanskrit, Awadhi, Kashmiri, Gurumukhi, Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, and Gujarati (recounting the episode of Shri Rama’s return to Ayodhya).
Finally, on January 21, Modi visited tow places. First was Arichal Munai near Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu. This is the exact place from where the Ram Setu was built. As PM said in his speech after the Pran Partistha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, it is the building the Ram Setu that heralded the change of an era and the beginning of new. Modi paid floral tributes at the spot and performed Pranayam.
Later, on the same day, Modi visited Sri Kothandarama Swamy in Dhanush Kodi. It is believed at this place, Vibhishana first met Prabhu Ram and asked for refuge. It is also the place where Vibhishana was coronated with the crown of Lanka. Modi prayed at the temple and also took blessings.
This was Modi’s Tapasya before he could gather enough blessings or punyayas to be able to perform the Pran Prathistha on January 22.
But parallelly, the ground force of crores of selfless, volunteers of RSS were going home to home distributing the holy Akshat. A simple act that electrified the whole nation. People touched the feet of the volunteers who came with the Akshat, others cried, still others mobilised their entire societies in festive brilliance to mark the act of receiving the Akshat. There was no class or caste barrier. Neither anyone asked nor anyone offered to tell their social status. All that mattered was the pious act of taking and giving the Akshat.
Had January 22 been just another event, no matter how grand on this date, the fervour we have today would not have happened. It would have been like an important milestone, but one among may such. One that comes every few years and which passes away.
But this where the genius of Prime Minister Modi lies. In seizing the moment. Modi’s tapasya and sadhana, the entire of January, and the matching humongous mobilization by RSS gave us the civilisational moment that we all dreamt we ought to have.
The inner satisfaction that we all feel today, at having a moment befitting the enormity of the occasion, is in equal measure the result of the yagna of both the society and the leadership. The Bhartiya society, at large, is on the verge of rediscovering its original moorings. This rediscovery is destined to ignite the revival of a glorious phase in our civilisational history. Some argue that this moment has come after five centuries. True. But there is another truth. Our generation is lucky to have exactly the same feeling that people in Treta Yuga would have felt after Prabu Ram’s return. Every later generation, every passing year, has just celebrated Diwali. It is only us, in this generation of 2024 who are blessed enough to have the same sense of fulfilment that the residents of Ayodhya felt multiple millennia ago.
It then behoves us to utilise this opportunity to unitedly work for a multiple millennia of Bharat’s pre-eminence, just as it happened the last time Prabhu Ram returned.
(The writer is the founding CEO of BlueKraft Digital Foundation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)
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