Edits | February, 2024
The electorate of India had never imagined the euphoria over the installation of the Ram Lalla statue at the newly built Ram temple at Ayodhya. There is a joke going around in social media circles, should we consign PM Modi to the next elections or should we still hold the elections? At the moment it looks like a foregone conclusion that the BJP with PM Modi leading should seriously be considered the victorious party in the 2024 general election. The Ram Mandir comes not only as bait for the next elections, for the large populace of India but as an extreme religion economics which has been prevalent for over 2000 years now. The Hindus never had them on the plains in the North. Either it was Vaishno Devi up in the hills, Amarnathji Yatra which was an extreme up in the Himalayas and the cold, also seasonal, or acclaimed temples in the South, which collected all the religious donations during the year, for the remaining open throughout the year (Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram, Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, being some of the largest). At Ayodhya, the young and the old, and even the disabled can simply walk for a darshan, unlike the ones in the hills. The Ayodhya Ram Mandir surely will get a large booty of these collections, and it will somehow dent the collections at the other Hindu temples. Participants in religious tourism remain the same, and they go to a number of temples within a period of time. With Ayodhya being added, that donation economics will get split up. At the current estimates, Ayodhya is to witness a 5-crore influx of pilgrims, which may be much above the Vatican of 2-crore pilgrims, and 3-crore for Tirupati. Ram Mandir makes a serious establishment for the RSS and the Trust which runs it for times to come (some say centuries) and thereby, controlling a lot of money from the Hindus. The temples in the north Indian plains did not survive due to attacks by the moguls and were plundered of their wealth many, many times. We have all heard about the stories of the Somnath mandir. With the things that have changed now, the Ram Mandir has a better chance of not being plundered like in the old ages.
It is commendable that Prime Minister Modi has been able to gather huge amounts of support at the Ram Lalla installation, something which could not have been bought with a big media campaign or simply canvassing. And this euphoria keeps going on. For time in memorial, where politicians are hardly commended, to have established something to do with sentiment, this is one monument which generations will relic, that it was built for them by the whims and strategy of a politician. This is one event which has united all the Hindus and left the other communities dumbfounded to be up against arms. Resultantly, the Rahul Gandhi yatra from the east to the west has received little or no coverage, also the I.N.D.I alliance seems to be breaking up at a faster pace, just on the eve of the general elections in 2024. Also, the euphoria and criticism on who has been invited for the 22nd January installation, has stalled as quickly as it had begun.
The Ram Mandir and the Ram Janmabhoomi construction story may not end here, since Modi may look to facilitate the Muslims also by pitching in to build their mosque, which is some distance away as per the Ram Janmabhoomi settlement by the Supreme Court. Should that happen, the rest of the 16% to 21% minority of Muslims may be in place for Modi and the BJP in the next round of politiareeing. With multiple legal changes that have challenged the modern Muslim society, especially for women, PM Modi has enacted laws that clearly appease them, but at the same time also good for their development.
In the days to come it is to be seen how the other political parties will pitch against the BJP for not forming the government in the new general elections. News of the breaking up of the opposition alliance is now coming in each day. Some of the political bigwigs are trying to save their crown in the ongoing rhetoric with the Hindus marching to Ayodhya in numbers which have never been seen before.
CA Divesh Nath
Editor
Woman’s Era
LinkedIn: Divesh Nath