After the first two VIP-studded Pran Pratishtha ceremonies, the third and final event at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, to be held Tuesday, will put front and centre the footsoldiers who were part of the mandir movement. Around 10,000 are expected to attend, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The Sangh imprimatur on the ceremony organised by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which will mark the hoisting of a ‘Dharma Dhwaj (flag)’ at the temple, is clear.
Take Anil Kumar, who was 26 and the president of BJP youth wing in Mirzapur, when he participated in the Ram Temple movement in 1992 and went to jail. Kumar was present at the Pran Pratistha celebrations as well, but as a volunteer serving food.
He is part of a group of 35 from his district, all in the age group of 50-60, all with some links to the temple agitation.
Take Mridul Shukla, 50, now a scientist at the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow, who says that as a student union leader, he was selected by VHP functionaries to be “the commander of a Islamikaran Virodhi Sena”, to prevent then Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government from turning Ayodhya into “Mecca”.
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“I started a second life after completing my studies, working as a scientist and with an NGO in the field of science. However, the Sangh ideology always remained close to my heart. Some of those who were with us are no more.”
Shukla says that he too has “moved on”. “But the start of work at the temple in 2020 brought back old memories. I am glad to be here as an invitee.”
The RSS is said to have shortlisted the invitees over a six-month exercise, zeroing in on grassroot workers and people who either contributed to the Ram Temple movement or helped spread the word in their areas or communities. Special focus is on SCs, STs and women.
Around one-third of the invitees are significantly from Ayodhya, which will help fight criticism of the residents being left out of the temple celebrations. Also present will be Iqbal Ansari, the main litigant from the Muslim side in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.
Take Anil Kumar Singh, now 57, who was the chief of the BJP’s Mirzapur youth wing district in 1992, and is today the ‘Sampark Zila Pramukh’ of the RSS in Mirzapur. He too attended the past two Ram Temple events as a volunteer.
“Life has come full circle,” he says. We participated in the mandir movement as young kar sevaks… I even went to jail in 1992.” He hopes that the Mathura and Kashi temple disputes too would be resolved soon.
Take Janardan Vaiswaran, from tribal-dominated Sonbhadra. He was merely an Intermediate when he participated in the 1992 Ram Temple movement along with others. He is here in a group of 20-odd, all of whom were once associated with the temple movement.
Vaiswaran is excited about being an invitee this time and not a volunteer, as happened the past two ceremonies. “We got the invite over a call, then an SMS, a letter, and finally a card came from the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. We will treasure it always,” he says.
Officials say arrangements are in place to accommodate the 10,000-odd invitees, at 1,600 home stays, hotels or tents. CM Adityanath was present in Ayodhya Monday to welcome Bhagwat.
Sources said the invitee list has representation from different communities and sections – Kinnars, Kumhars, Lodhis, Yadavs, Dhobis, Pasis, Valmikis, Ravidas etc. Among the ST invitees are those from UP but also West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu. Sources say that everyone on the list has had a direct or indirect association with the RSS.
The exceptions are Jaipur-based sculptor Sartyanarayan Pandey and his family, who sculpted idols of the Pandavas and Sita for the Ram Darbar on the first floor of the temple. Ram statue is in white Makrana marble.