Opinion: Why PM Modi Wants To Rebrand Ram As Everyone's Ram

It was easily Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hour of triumph. Yet, he refrained from sounding triumphant after the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. He made it clear that the temple was no longer a political project or a trophy to be flaunted by his party. To ensure that the Ayodhya event was not an all-BJP show but a national event, senior ministers in the government such as Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman or Dharmendra Pradhan, or BJP chief JP Nadda, stayed away. They were seen offering prayers at various temples across India - in Delhi, Kanchipuram and Cuttack. Encomiums were showered on Modi by a seer who hailed him for maintaining the rigours of an 11-day fast for the consecration ceremony when three-day abstention would have sufficed. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat joined in to call him a "tapasvi". Minutes after the consecration, Modi called for restrained celebrations, saying it wasn't just "a moment of celebration" but also a moment that signified "the maturity of Indian society". The Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha was not about victory, but "also about humility", he declared.

Emphasising the importance of humility and the need for it, Modi warned that many nations had faced great difficulties in achieving success in the process of trying to untangle history. In fact, the situation had often become more challenging than before. However, he lauded the fact that the country had "untangled this knot of history with seriousness and sensitivity". It indicates, he asserted, "that our future will be much more beautiful than our past".

Speaking from the precincts of the Ram Mandir, PM Modi outlined his concept of Ram Rajya and shared that he discovered Ram as the unifier of India is central to his vision for the nation. He had found that Ram is revered from Sagar (South) to Saryu (North) during his travels across the country as part of his 11-day rituals. "Today in Ayodhya, not just the idol of Shri Ram has been infused with life. It is also the life-infusion of unbreakable faith in Indian culture as represented by Shri Ram. Today, this resolution has taken a concrete shape in the form of the Ram temple," he said.

Modi was reaching out to all Indians. In Ram Rajya, there was no question of exclusion. He emphasised that Ram belonged to all. He made this point in the presence of the RSS chief. That is why the reachout to Muslims seemed convincing and was appreciated by the community. In fact, former AMU chancellor Zameeruddin Shah went on record to welcome PM Modi's statement, "Ram belongs to all".  He accepted that "Ram as an entity not only belonged to India but also to South Asia".

In this backdrop, as PM Modi subtly outlined his concept of Ram Rajya. He urged everyone to "feel a sense of belonging to Ram Mandir" and asked people to "rethink their perspective". He explained how Ram is present in India's Constitution, in its first copy. It is another matter that legal battles over the existence of Ram had gone on for decades. Describing the Ram Mandir as a "nation rising" by breaking the mentality of colonial slavery, he underscored its importance as a "unifier". He possibly acquired this perspective when he visited places linked to Lord Ram as part of his 11-day anushthan. Listening to various versions of the Ramayana must have made him realise that it is Ram that unites the North and the South. His Ramayana trail of the Panchavati Dham in Nashik (Maharashtra), the sacred Triprayar Temple in Kerala, Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh, Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Shri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram, or Dhanushkodi, were a learning experience, by Modi's own admission. Giving a context to Modi's move to rely on Ram to unify people, Tughlak editor S Gurumurthy explained that PM Modi was possibly only trying to follow Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi. "It was Mahatma Gandhi who expounded the spiritual nationalism of people by symbolically identifying Ram and Ram Bhajan. And that is the power which he reposed in Ram, and said Swaraj means Ram Rajya," Mr Gurumurthy said.

So what is driving Modi to push the Ram temple as a mainstream project that is acceptable to all?  Of course, he did briefly recall the years of fear mongering over the Ram Temple and how there were always some who talked about unrest if the temple were to be built. "Such people failed to understand the purity of India's social sentiment. The construction of this temple of Ramlalla is also a symbol of peace, patience, harmony, and coordination in the Indian society. We are seeing that this construction is not igniting any fire, but rather it is giving birth to energy. The Ram temple has brought inspiration for every section of society to move towards a brighter future," he said. At the same time, Modi made an effort to rebrand Ram as everyone's Ram, an all-encompassing Ram -- a Ram who is the soul of the universe. It was the pitch and thrust of his address. "Ram is not fire, Ram is energy. Ram is not a dispute, Ram is the resolution. Ram is not only ours, Ram is for everyone... This is not just a divine temple.  It is a temple of India's vision, philosophy, and direction. It is a temple of national consciousness in the form of Ram."

That is why moving beyond the construction of the temple, PM Modi  touched on other achievements that the country has witnessed in the past year. From hoisting the flag on the Moon's South Pole to successfully conducting Mission Aditya by traveling 15 lakh km to the Sun, to waving the flag of Tejas in the sky and Vikrant in the sea. He urged young Indians to be proud of their heritage. "This grand Ram temple will be a witness to the rise of a magnificent India, to the development of India!" Inarguably the Ram Mandir has brought a big infra push to Ayodhya and adjoining areas, beginning with it a national four-lane highway, an international airport and a cruise across river Saryu.  Even a few years ago, such facilities were unthinkable.