Ayodhya's simple Diwali and the election lollipop of Ramayan Museum

By Valay Singh

It’s almost midnight. More than a thousand people await the clock to strike 12 so they can officially celebrate the birth of Hanuman, arguably Ayodhya’s most loved and revered deity. The jostling to grab a spot in front of the gates of the Hanumangarhi temple is cheerful, but the massive crowd is making the police and temple staff uneasy. After a few tense minutes, the gold-plated doors are opened and the place fills with cries of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. A thick stream of hundreds of mostly men moves across the doors to get a glimpse of Hanuman, Ram’s most devoted bhakt. Outside, other men, women, elderly and children wait for their turn even as a few sadhus fan out with aartis.

“It is only in Ayodhya and some other parts of north India that Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated a day before Diwali, ” says Sanjay Das, a sadhu at the Hanumangarhi temple. In other parts of the country, it is celebrated in summer. It may be the onset of winter but the atmosphere in the twin city of Faizabad-Ayodhya is heating up with the impending UP elections.

And, in this region, politics and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute are two sides of the same coin. In recent weeks, leaders from all parties have spoken about the Ram temple. While Union Minister for Culture Mahesh Sharma announced plans to set up a Rs 200 crore Ramayan Museum, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav promised all support to such a plan.



Ayodhya is heating up with the impending UP elections. And, in this region, politics and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute are two sides of the same coin. In recent weeks, leaders from all parties have spoken about the Ram temple. While Union Minister for Culture Mahesh Sharma announced plans to set up a `200 crore Ramayan Museum, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav promised all support to such a plan. Ayodhya is believed by the Hindus to be the city of Lord Ram, and it is to this city that he returned after his triumph over Ravan, the king of Lanka. To welcome Lord Ram, practising Hindus light up their houses and neighbourhoods. On the banks of the river Sarayu, a family from Surat is celebrating Diwali by lighting glittering diyas. Devoid of deafening crackers, Diwali in Ayodhya is celebrated in a traditional way — with more earthen lamps than electric lights, and with a fast-vanishing rustic simplicity.

This camaraderie among people has perhaps kept Ayodhya and Faizabad relatively secure from the often bloody riots that have erupted in other parts of north India in the past. Sarla Devi, a shopkeeper opposite the royal palace in Ayodhya, says: “We want the dispute to be resolved so that more tourists come here and our business grows.” Majnu, 77, a tea-shop owner around the fenced-off area in Ayodhya, says: “Mandir, Masjid both should be built.” But his friend, Som Dutt Mishra, is quick to interject. “There are so many places where they can build their mosque… it cannot be rebuilt at the same spot at least.” Majnu nods in agreement: “Let the Ram temple be built so Ayodhya can be developed soon.”

Polarised Views
This sort of discussion is commonplace, from tea shops to marbled floors of high-pillared temples like Maniram ki Chavni whose head priest, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, says that even though Ayodhya doesn’t need any museum for itself, it will be good for the people. Does he think the Ram temple will be built soon or are these just election-related overtures by political parties? “Look, we are fully confident that the construction will start in PM Narendra Modi’s tenure.”



Mahant Gyan Das, head of Hanumangarhi temple, thinks otherwise, “This talk of a Ramayan museum is all rubbish. It happens before every election. Political parties raise the temple issue to polarise the masses but we want the local community to resolve this issue through dialogue and with mutual agreement.” Over the years, various attempts at an out-of-court settlement have fizzled out in the face of strong opposition from both Hindu and Muslim hardliners. Now, a six-year-old process led by the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Ayodhya-Faizabad Citizens’ Agreement Committee is preparing to submit to the Supreme Court signed statements of more than 10,000 locals who want the Ram temple to be built at the same spot where the Babri Masjid was, and a mosque to be constructed in another part of Ayodhya. They also want the construction of both to start at the same time. Babu Khan, a resident of Ayodhya, whose house was burnt down in the 1992 riots, is a member of the committee. “Our effort is the best bet to resolve this dispute as we are supported by both Hindus and Muslims. More than 5,000 Muslims have agreed to this but only the fanatics on both sides are opposing it,” says Khan. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das reckons they are “interfering with the legal process pending in the Supreme Court”, and doesn’t support it. His views are shared by the local unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which spearheaded the Ram temple movement. Its local spokesperson Sharad Sharma says that only the Ram temple can be built there and there is no question of a mosque coming up in the “cultural boundary” of Ayodhya.

Efforts for Understanding
Mahant Satyendra Das is the head priest appointed by the government to take care of the Ram idols situated at the spot where Babri Masjid stood. A celibate, he lives with his brother’s family in a spartan house one kilometre from the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

It’s about six in the evening and he is overseeing the preparations for the Diwali aarti, a simple affair consisting of dozens of diyas and sweets. As a person who has served the makeshift Ram temple every day for the past 24 years, he is perhaps closest to the issue than anybody else. When asked the same questions about the announcement of the Ram museum and the efforts for an out-of-court settlement, he candidly says: “I welcome the Ramayan museum but it is nothing more than an election lollipop. As far as the efforts for a resolution are concerned, I doubt they will be allowed to succeed and those behind it know it. But they are doing it only for publicity.”

Is he against a mosque coming up in Ayodhya as part of the compromise? “Of course not. Most people don’t know it, but the Babri Masjid was not the only mosque in Ayodhya, there are many mosques here; one more won’t cause any problem.”

(Valay Singh is a freelance writer and photographer)