Ram's Ideals Go Beyond India

Parmeshwar Devkota

After settling down decades-old legal squabble and maintaining harmony in the society, the Indian government and Hindu community constructed Maru-Gurjara style huge Ram Temple having five segments in Ajodhya. The temple covers an area of seven plus acres of land. The initial estimated cost for the construction of the Temple is said to be USD 217 million.  After the management committee installed a 1.3 metre tall statue of Lord Ram at the inner sanctum of the temple decked in intricate gold ornaments on January 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ayodhaya in Utter Pradesh and inaugurated the Temple in presence of about 7,500 dignitaries. 

The invitees included politicians, industrialists, renowned social figures, movie stars, saints, gurus and pundits of different sects and common people. Amid chanting of Vedic hymns and worships, Premier Modi offered Pooja and opened the temple for public. Ram is a human incarnation of God of the Hindu pantheons of gods who was born at the exact site in Ayodhya in the prehistoric times called Treta Yuga. 

India has been proving itself as one of the leading nations in economy, technology and stable democratic set-up. In the recent years, India has been building mega infrastructures such as railways, highways and airports. Along with the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhaya, the single lane roads of the age old city have been widened into four lanes, hotels of international standards and a big airport have also been built. Those all constructions will have far-reaching impacts on economy and tourism industry.

The grandeur of the Maru-Gujara architecture of the temple, hundreds of years struggle and sacrifice by the people and jubilant mood and pride of the majority of the Indian people reminds me of a grand temple opening ceremony in Japan. Some thirteen years ago, Todai-ji Buddha temple was inaugurated at Nara in Japan. 

As Japanese Emperor Shomu Tenna (724-749 CE) ordered an architect monk named Roben to build a Buddha temple at Nara, Roben collected donations from 2.6 million people across the country and began constructing 84-pillar huge Temple. He also built 16-metre tall bronze statue of Lord Buddha. On the opening ceremony, in the year 752 CE, Emperor Tenna invited royals of all Korea China and officials and dignitaries from across the ‘known world’. The Great Temple was opened in presence of the royals and over ten thousand monks. It is said that over four thousand dancers performed on the auspicious opening ceremony. 

Bearing these two great civilisations in mind, this scribe has some reservations about the consecration of Ram's statue in Ayodhaya.  First, Lord Ram’s values, ideals and morals go beyond India. Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia are some of the nations which revere Lord Ram. Therefore, whether the Indian government invited guests from those countries or not. Secondly, if the representatives of all the religions had participated in the programme including opposition political parties, it would have been in accordance with the teachings of Lord Ram.

Thirdly, even the ruling party leaders in their speeches claim that they would lead the nation to Treta Yuga. This sounds awkward. Pre-historic social accounts in the secret scriptures clearly say that neither the Treta Yuga nor the Dwapar was as fantastic as this Kali Yuga that we live in.