Ground-breaking ceremony done by Indian PM Modi 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ayodhya for the grand ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Modi is among the 175 people present at the ceremony. He is sharing the dais with just four other people — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, trust chief Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and CM Yogi Adityanath. Keeping in mind the pandemic, seating arrangements are made in accordance with social distancing principles. 

PM Modi has unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the temple, followed by the release of a commemorative postage stamp on ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’ last week. After the event, Modi has addressed the gathering before leaving for the helipad. 

Before this, the Prime minister along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi. Modi also paid a visit to Ram Janmabhoomi. 

Ahead of the ceremony, Ayodhya has been decked up. The city has been painted yellow – an auspicious colour of knowledge and learning. On Tuesday last, prayers were offered to the nishan (flag) of Lord Hanuman, revered as the protector of the city. Starting Tuesday last, all local temples started a continuous Akhand Ramayan recitation with temples and homes being lit as in Diwali. 

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Ayodhya verdict: The man who helped Lord Ram win 

For more than a decade, he sat in musty courtrooms, representing a Hindu God in one of the country’s most contentious and deadly disputes. 

In court papers, Triloki Nath Pandey is described as the “next friend” of the infant Lord Ram. The deity was one of the litigants in the long-running dispute over a plot of land in the northern Indian temple town of Ayodhya, which was decided in his favour by the Supreme Court on Saturday. 

“To represent God is a glorious job. To think that I was chosen to do this job from among millions of Hindus made me proud and joyful,” Mr Pandey, 75, told recently. 

For centuries, a deity or an idol has been treated as a “juristic person” in Indian law because many devotees donate their land and possessions to idols who are synonymous with their shrines. A devotee or the manager of the shrine or trust typically handles the deity’s possessions. In light-hearted legalese, the idol is represented by someone called a “friend” of God. 

 
But how do you define the best interests of God? And how can you be sure that the person is acting in God’s best interests? 

These are tricky matters which have never been statutorily defined in the law, and have been handled on a case-by-case basis. But usually, unless another person also claims to be a “best friend” of the deity, there is no dispute. In other words, says a lawyer, God is entitled to one friend. 

A Hindu mob tore down the 16th Century Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992, triggering riots in many parts of India. Many Hindus believed that the mosque stood at the exact spot where their deity, Lord Ram, was born and wanted to build a temple there. On Saturday, the Supreme Court acceded to their wishes and ruled that Muslims would get another plot of land to construct a mosque. 

Mr Pandey spoke for the deity who millions of Hindus revere for his sense of justice and benevolence. Lord Ram is also the protagonist of a mythological epic, Ramayana, where he is a symbol of self-sacrifice and heroism for many Hindus. 

Lord Ram’s petitions in the court – essentially backed by a clutch of Hindu groups and meticulously written and represented in courts by some of India’s leading lawyers – talked about worship, divinity, incarnations, and spirits of the divine. 

They spoke about how it was “manifestly established by public records of unimpeachable authority” that the disputed plot was actually the place where the deity was born. The petitions added that the deity’s spirit “can be experienced by those who pray there”. 

the judges also concluded that it was the “faith and belief of Hindus” that the place was the birthplace of Ram, even before the mosque was constructed. 

Mr Pandey, a tall, strapping man, has actually been the third “friend” of Lord Ram after the deity became one of the litigants in the dispute in 1989. The first two were a deceased high court judge, and a retired university lecturer. 

Legal aid 

Mr Pandey was born to a farming family in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The eldest of four children, he went to a local school and college, studying Hindi and later training to be a teacher. But he never really held a job. 

In high school he got involved with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is widely regarded as the parent organisation of the ruling BJP. Much later, he moved to work with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, which was at the forefront of the demolition of the mosque. Political scientist Manjari Katju describes the group as a “clamorous and militant sibling of the RSS”. 

uring the marathon 40-day final hearings in the Supreme Court, Mr Pandey, who is battling arthritis, sat on a chair. “I must have visited courtrooms hundreds of times in the last 10 years or so. I didn’t talk much there. The lawyers spoke on my behalf. Remember, I am the symbol of God,” he said. He would also sign papers on behalf of the deity.” 

Mr Pandey lives in a single-room on the sprawling dusty VHP campus in Ayodhya, where other members of the organisation have been agitating and waiting for a temple to be built since they demolished the mosque. After the verdict, he ceases to be a “friend” of God, but he is unfazed by this. 

“I am with Lord Ram always. When I am with him, what is to fear? God has been vindicated.” 

(News source and pics : Internet)