Ram Mandir construction will begin from February 21, announces Dharam Sansad

In what can be called a massive development in the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, seers at the Dharam Sansad at the Kumbh have declared that construction of Ram Mandir will begin from February 21 this year. Swaroopanand Saraswati, the Dwarkapith’s Shankaracharya, made this major announcement. He announced that the foundation stone would be laid on February 21. He also made it clear that this would not be a violation of any court order. He said that until the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict is overruled by the Supreme Court, it would continue to apply.

Swaroopanand Saraswati also said that the seers would March to Ayodhya on February 21 and lay the foundation stone of the Ram temple. The seer also expressed the vision that Ayodhya be considered equivalent to the Vatican. Therefore, Ayodhya would become the centre of Hindu conscience. He also said that he was not concerned about which government would construct the temple. Speaking about the VHP, the seer remarked that the organisation did not view Lord Ram as a God, rather as a mahapurush, but he had no enmity with the organisation due to this reason.

Interestingly, this announcement from the Dharam Sansad at the Kumbh has come just a day after the  Modi government approached the Supreme Court demanding that excess land around the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site be returned to the owners. It has asked the Supreme Court to allow and hand over the land (around 67 acres) to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas or the trust in order to start the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. It maintained that only 2.7 acres of land is disputed while the rest is clear and thus the status quo should be removed.

After the government filed this petition, Union Minister Prakash Javdekar addressed the media and spoke about how there was already a Ram temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site but there was a need to construct a “magnificent” temple at the site given the significance of the holy location. He also made it clear that the government would not be the one constructing the Ram Mandir but the groups and trusts entrusted with this task would take it up. As per the Republic TV, this move by the government is in concert with what Subramanian Swamy has been proposing with respect to the Ram temple. He has been saying that the entire site including the disputed part be handed over to the VHP so that construction may begin immediately. He further suggested that the government may compensate the original owners. After this move by the government, Swamy tweeted, “There is already a Ram Mandir standing on the RJB but it is in a tent. Till Title Suit is decided we will build all other parts of the temple is built. Then thereafter we will construct the sanctum sanctorum.” From what Swamy is suggesting, it seems that things are actually falling in place pretty quickly now.

The fact that the government move has been immediately followed by a massive declaration by the Dharam Sansad at the Kumbh seems to have cleared the air around the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. The government, as well as the seers, are moving positively towards the construction of the Ram temple and it seems that the wait might not be too long from here on.