Cherry blossoms in Sri Lanka, Hanuman speaking Bombaiya, the mythical Sone Ki Lanka looking darkly Gothic, Raavan looking like a Bollywood dude... this is not modernisation. This is a travesty, asserts Deepa Gahlot.
Modi was on his first visit to Ayodhya after he laid the foundation stone of a Ram temple at the once disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site on August 5, 2020.
Bollywood movies have a soft corner for Dil and Pyaar. But its Ram love is no less prolific.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel participated in the celebrations.
Police escorted the rally all the way, at one point standing in a row to prevent the rallyists from entering a side road where stood a huge mosque. Across the road, an old Muslim woman asked her Hindu neighbour what the rally was all about. The latter shrugged her ignorance, looking on in bewilderment at the young men with their saffron flags, all of them wearing Bajrang Dal T-shirts.
Opposition parties on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh for not allowing their leaders to visit Lakhimpur Kheri after eight people died in violence there during an anti farm law protest, alleging it was an attempt to cover up and demanding the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and the arrest of his son, who have been named in an FIR.
Alleging a "pattern" of triggering communal riots and winning elections, Raut said this will break the country into pieces.
"Like it is said, from the Upanishad to Upagraha (satellite).... we have to launch satellites and also teach the Upanishad to make people sanskari (virtuous)," Rupani said, adding the centre will help create administrators for 'new India', giving opportunity to youth irrespective of caste, creed, religion.
Krishna chants gained more currency when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav invoked the deity.
In a statement, he said it is his belief that the Shri Ram Mandir will represent India as a strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation with justice for all and exclusion of none to truly usher in 'Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance'.
RRR isn't the "spectacle" it is made out to be, argues Sreehari Nair.
Without naming the BJP, Joshi added, "We are not begging for it. We are expressing our emotions. The country wants 'Ram rajya'."
Leaders, including the President and Vice President, react to the bhoomi pujan of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
A total of 1.71 lakh earthen lamps were lit up at the grand event while a chopper decorated as the mythological 'Pushpak Viman' descended on the Ram Katha Park with artistes decked up to resemble Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman.
Nath said the silver bricks were bought from contributions made by members of the Congress. "We will send 11 silver bricks for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya on the behalf of citizens of Madhya Pradesh," the former chief minister told reporters.
In politics, if your objective is only winning elections, just Chanakya neeti might do. For governance you need both, Chanakya neeti and Ram Rajya. You can neither beat up the farmers into submission, nor dismiss them as 'Khalistanis', asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'I was fortunate to have served as India's ambassador to Indonesia and witnessed on several occasions, the incredible performances of the Ramayana and episodes from the Mahabharata in Jogjakarta and in Bali,' recalls former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi stunned his audience at a summit on Friday by claiming he believes in the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Both Mahatma Gandhi and his idea of Ram Rajya are relevant for me," he said in an interaction at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi on Friday. Modi said that he also believed in Gandhi's idea of Gram Swarajya, according to which village-level representatives should be appointed unanimously as elections led to violence.
As dusk fell, volunteers lit up nearly six lakh diyas lined up on the Saryu riverbank. 'Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records witnessed this grand festival. With 5,84,372 earthen lamps, the event made the world record,' a state government statement said.
The candid admission of an activist seeking a blanket order to remove encroachments in the country and saying he has never cast his vote, did not go down well with the apex court leading it to make the observation.
"Even Lord Ram is not helping the party to win polls. They (those two Indians) shared their views on the day of vote counting (for Delhi polls)," the Sena leader said.
VHP national working president Alok Kumar also rejected questions about the muhurta of the event, saying the 'best advice' has been taken including from the Head of the Jyotish Department of the Banaras Hindu University on timing of the ceremony.
'Tell me, one BJP policy that Mamata has opposed and is fighting tooth and nail?' Be it Article 370, instant triple talaq, be it CAA/NRC/NPR, be it notebandi, FDI, she has aligned with the BJP.'
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'In 2013, Modi said his government would be of Dalits and OBCs.' 'During his tenure, the highest number of atrocities have taken place.' 'What they want is that this Ambedkar Constitution must not be practised in India in the future.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Wednesday said though the party has faith in Hindutva and the Ram temple issue, they would not be its political agenda for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for early next year.
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
When journalism is destroyed, what is destroyed is a common man's weapon against the might of the establishment, notes Sumit Bhattacharya.
Terming the Allahabad high court's verdict on Ayodhya land as a blessing from Mahatma Gandhi, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the verdict is a good sign to realise Gandhji's ideology of 'Ram Rajya'.
'Modi gave the slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' just four days ahead of polling for the Delhi Assembly. Will be happy if (the number) goes up by two-four seats with the help of Shri Ram,' the Shiv Sena said.
Leaders hope the Ayodhya temple ceremony would pave way for harmony.
Will a time come when people will look beyond what they see as Modi'S strengths and begin to wonder why they have got poorer or sicker under his rule, asks Vir Sanghvi.
'...by combining religious and political missions -- to destroy the Babri Masjid and establish Ram Rajya.' 'Hindutva was successful in creating synergy with the aspirations of devotees,' Dhirendra K Jha, author of Ayodhya: The Dark Night, tells Kanika Datta.
'His speech at the bhoomi puja will stand out for a long time in the memory of those who listened to it for touching the pinnacle of excellence and brilliance in both style and content,' declares B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'"My Modi is in the role of Lord Ram and Congress president Rahul Gandhi is Ravana and his sister Priyanka Surpanakha'
When the temple issue predominated BJP's discourse, its victory margins have been narrow.
'Dr Kafeel is being framed by the Yogi government because he talks about the BRD hospital all the time.'
'Among Dalits, the Valmikis were the biggest voters of the BJP.' 'They now feel Yogiji has failed them in Hathras.'
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
Generations of Indians don't quite grasp that there would barely be an India had it not been for the Sardar whose steadfastness and guile stitched together that which had been united only in philosophy and spirituality and sometimes not even then -- for thousands of years. A fascinating excerpt from Hindol Sengupta's The Man Who Saved India, Sardar Patel and His Idea of India.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances