“Ram Lala hum ayenge mandir wahin banayege” was a common war cry issued by Sangh Parivar leaders and Ram temple enthusiasts in the early 1990s. Two decades later, Ram Lala remains exactly where he was, in a small yet well-guarded makeshift structure. But now it seems that with a full majority Modi government at the Centre, Ayodhya is set to get a Ram museum.
In days to come, pilgrims and other visitors to Ayodhya will witness frantic construction activity in order to build a grand Ram museum; possibly equipped with a state of the art audio-visual system and other artificial wonders, something which the Akshardham temple in New Delhi boasts of.
The banks of river Sarayu would also possibly be remade and beautified. But everything will remain quiet on the temple front. It has to be all quiet. There is no other option. Even if the Modi government and Sangh Parivar want to do something over the temple issue.
Under the circumstances, Modi government’s idea of constructing a Ram museum – spread across several acres of land, with beautified landscapes mimicking the look and feel of a temple – is undoubtedly a smart move.
The fact that this move has been proposed right before the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls makes it a political one. The BJP, though, cannot be blamed for any wrongdoing, except for the charge that the timing of the move is politically motivated.
The BJP leaders would be at ease to counter such charges based on merits and rhetoric alone. It is an administrative and cultural project, one from which the BJP will have no qualms in harvesting political yields – if any.
No one can really challenge the building of a museum on Lord Ram. This cannot be termed as a communal project. One can challenge the historicity of it but, in issues of faith, mythological beliefs always trump historical facts.
More so, if a museum on Ram had to be built, there couldn’t have been a better place than Ayodhya – his supposed birthplace and kingdom.
It appears that the construction of a grand Ram temple will remain as a mirage and an unrealistic lofty slogan for the Ram temple enthusiasts. The idol of Ram Lala continues to exist in a makeshift kachha structure. One has to go through rigorous security checks and unending walls of iron poles to take a glimpse into Lord Ram’s childhood. If the security guard posted there does not point you towards the idol, chances are that you might miss it entirely.
But the temporary structure and the elaborate security around it serves as de-facto recognition that the Ram temple exists, irrespective of the final outcome of the case pending with the Supreme Court on the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.
