It is a long and very sad story which has a happy ending. As you all know Ram is an incarnation of Vishnu and he came to the earth as a mortal to destroy an evil King by the name of Ravana. Ravana had been granted a boon that no God could kill him.
In the meanwhile, the universe was in turmoil as all the Gods were being manipulated by Ravana to perform demeaning tasks. Agni was made to cook in the royal kitchen and Vayu had to sweep the palace and its compounds. The Gods were in acute distress and so were the devas, apsaras and forest sprites. Vishnu decided that he would come as a mortal.
The story of Ram
Ram, the avatar of Vishnu was born in Ayodhya to Dashrath and Kaushalya. He is called Maryada Purushottam Ram (Perfect Man and seventh avatar of Vishnu), and he was the greatest man of honor. His rule was called Ram Rajya, which meant that every one performed their duties and they were happy. However, before this came to pass, Rama had to spend fourteen years in the forest, during which period Ravana kidnapped Sita. Rama then had to go to war and remember he was a mortal so he had to go through the whole process of difficulties. He was sad and helpless and for a while he floundered as he did not wish to hurt anyone.
He travelled from the forest to the tip of India as a lost person with his brother, Lakshman. It is in this period, Hanuman realized that he was a very powerful person with many virtues. It is called the awakening of prana for Hanuman, when he stood in front of Rama. Hanuman knew that he was standing in front of a God. Rama was not aware of his powers. Every task, he performed he never forgot his dharma.
The story of the temple in Ayodhya
Now we come to the story of the temple in Ayodhya. Babur, the Muslim Mughal king built a mosque in the place which was the birthplace of Ram, on the razed temple. During the reign of Akbar, a platform was constructed in front of the mosque. Hindus were allowed to offer prayers to Ram. Then there is a period of conflict but archeological evidence (according to ASI) proves that the temple existed. Politics came in the way and I am not going into the details. In 1949, a statue of Ram was found in the mosque.
Then there was a dispute and the mosque gates were locked. The Hindus were not allowed to worship the deity. The mosque was razed to the ground in 1992. Placatory politics and conflict continued on the subject. In 2019, the supreme court passed a judgement that a trust could be set up and a temple could be constructed in Ayodhya. It also allotted five acres of land to the Muslims for building a mosque. In 2020, the construction of the temple started.
What is incredible is that the Ram Mandir has been constructed entirely on donations from the ordinary people like me. Until then Ram Lalla, the infant Ram had been living in a tent. In 2024, on January 22nd, the Ram Lalla statue was consecrated in the temple.
The Ram mandir and the installation of Ram Lalla with the Prana Pratishtha has made us all think of Ram as the perfect man, who stood his moral ground and now he is in the temple after five hundred years. He did not object to being in a tent. He was there for all his devotees. I went for my darshan when he was in the tent. From this story we all can learn to be humble and responsible.
I will end with, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Ram has remained gentle and kind throughout this period.
A small request
Please read, Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla, the infant Ram first and then this one.
Aim Hrim Klim
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