SRI RAMA JANMA BHUMI MOVEMENT AT A GLANCE

SRI RAMA JANMA BHUMI MOVEMENT AT A GLANCE
1. Ayodhya founded by Vaivasvata Manu (the progenitor and presiding figure of the
current Manvantara, which is the 7th of the 14 that make up the current Kalpa, each
Kalpa making up a day of Brahma) on the banks of the holy Sarayu. He saved life on
earth from the great deluge with the blessings and help of Bhagwan Matsyavatar. Two of
his children Ila and Ikshvaku became the progenitors of the Lunar Dynasty and Solar
Dynasty respectively. The Saptarshis (seven sages) in the Ministry of Vaivasvata Manu
are Kashyapa, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadvaja.
2. Birth of Lord Sri Ram – an Incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu – in the solar dynasty in
Ayodhya lakhs of years ago in the Treta Yuga - the second of the four Yugas, or ages of
mankind – to rescue the world from global terrorism, wickedness and sensuousness and
leave it happy, healthy and blessed for future generations.
3. Grand Temple on 84 black touchstone pillars constructed by Sakari Samrat
Vikramaditya 2100 years ago at Sri Rama Janma Bhumi (birthplace of Sri Rama),
Ayodhya dedicated to Sri Ram to glorify and perpetuate the memory of Sri Rama as a
national and global hero and savior. The birthplace was marked by temples of different
ages as when the old ones got ruined by vagaries of nature including the Sarayu floods
new ones came up to mark the site. According to experts, the pre-Babri temple was from
the Gahadwal period.
4. Demolition of the said temple by Mir Baqi – Commander of the Muslim invader Babar
in the year 1528 Common Era (CE) – 482 years ago.
5. 1st battle by Sri Ram Bhaktas for 15 days to save the temple from Islamic marauders.
The invaders could not overrun the temple and blast it by canons before 176,000 lionheart
Ram devotees had sacrificed their lives to save their most celebrated temple.
6. A Masjid like structure was forcefully superimposed on the demolished temple site
reusing the wreckage and remains of the temple, but the invaders could never construct
the minarets for Azan (call for prayer) and the mandatory water pool for Wazu.
7. During the period from 1528 CE to 1949 CE there were 76 battles/struggles to
reclaim the Ram Janma Bhoomi site to reconstruct the temple. Guru Govind Singhji
Maharaj, Maharani Raj Kunwar and many other greats fought to reclaim the holy place.
8. At midnight on 22nd December, 1949, Sri Ram Lala (Infant Sri Ram) revealed
Himself at the birthplace that was under the central dome of the structure. At that time Pt.
Jawahar Lal Nehru was the Prime Minister of Bharat, Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant was the
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Sri K.K. Nayyar from Kerala was the District
Magistrate of Faizabad.
9. To maintain law & order, the City Magistrate attached the structure u/s 145 Cr.PC,
appointed Sri Priya Dutt Ram as a Receiver and entrusted the site to his care and
ordered to lock the gates, but allowed a Priest to go inside the structure and perform
regular worship and rituals twice a day. The devotees were allowed only up to the locked
gate. The local people and Sadhus started chanting “Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram”
(Victory to Sri Rama) 24X7 Akhand Naam Sankeertan in front of the locked gate.
10. A veteran Congress leader of Western U.P. Sri Dau Dayal Khanna gave a rousing
call to the Hindu society in March 1983 at Muzaffarnagar (U.P.) in a Hindu Conference
to reclaim the Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi sites. Sri Gulzari Lal Nanda – two times
interim Prime Minister of India after demise of PM Nehru and PM Shastri – was also
present on the dais.
11. The First Dharma Sansad (National Parliament of Sants and Dharmacharyas of various
branches of the Himalayan Tradition) organized by VHP at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
in April 1984 resolved to reclaim Ayodhya first and have a Jan Jagaran Yatra (Public
Awakening Marathon all over the country) for unlocking the gate of the Janma Bhumi.
12. VHP started Ram-Janaki Rath Yatra from Sitamarhi to Ayodhya to Lucknow to Delhi
for mass awakening in October, 1984. The Yatra had, however, to be withdrawn for a
year due to unfortunate developments in the country that year.
13. Rath Yatras restarted in October 1985 for mass awakening and with a demand to open
the locks.
14. The Hindu society was so charged and exercised by these RathYatras that the District
Judge of Faizabad ordered on 1st of February, 1986 to open the locks. Sri Veer Bahadur
Singh of Congress was the Chief Minister of U.P. and Late Sri Rajiv Gandhi was the
Prime Minister at that time.
15. A sketch for the proposed temple was drawn by Sri Chandrakant Bhai Sompura – a
well known temple architect of Gujarat – whose grandfather Padmashri P.O. Sompura
modeled the present Somnath Temple and the family modeled many other Nagar style
temples. Sri C.B. Sompuraji also prepared a wooden model of the Sri Rama Janma
Bhumi temple.
16. In January 1989, on the holy occasion of Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, on the banks of
the Triveni Sangam, again a Dharma Sansad was organized by VHP and in the auspicious
and august presence of Deoraha Baba it was decided to hold the Ramshila Poojan
programme at every temple of the country. The first brick was consecrated at Sri
Badrinath Dham.
17. About 275,000 consecrated bricks (Ram Shilas) from Bharat and abroad reached
Ayodhya safely by the end of October 1989. An estimated 60 million people participated
in the programme.
18. On 9th November, 1989 the foundation stone was laid by an SC brother Sri Kameswar
Chowpal of Bihar with due permission of the then Government. Sri Narayan Dutt Tiwari
was the CM of U.P. and Late Sri Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
19. On 24th June of 1990 a declaration was made by Sadhus to start Kar Seva (voluntary
service) to start the temple construction from Devotthani Ekadashi (30th Oct., 1990).
20. A Jyoti (light/fire) was ignited by Arani Manthan (creating fire thru the process of
friction of wood blocks) at Ayodhya. It was called “Ram Jyoti”. The Jyoti reached every
Hindu home across the country and all celebrated Deepawali with this Jyoti.
21. On 30.10.90 thousands of Ram devotees entered Ayodhya crossing so many hurdles
put up by the then U.P. Government headed by Sri Mulayam Singh and a saffron flag
was hoisted atop the disputed structure.
22. CM of UP Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered opening of fire on Kar Sewaks on 2.11.90
in which so many lost their lives including the Kothari Brothers – Sri Ram Kothari & Sri
Sharad Kothari from Kolkata.
23. Delhi witnessed the grandest ever rally at Boat Club on 4.4.91. CM Mulayam Singh
resigned.
24. In September ’92, Sri Ram Paduka Pujan was organized in all villages in India and
another call was given to Bhaktas to reach Ayodhya on Gita Jayanti (6th December,
1992). Millions of people reached for Kar Seva and the world knows the fate of the Babri
structure.
25. A stone slab approx. 5 ft in length and 2.25 ft in width was found from the
demolished walls of the Babri structure. The epigraphists deciphered it to be an
inscription of 20 lines written in Sanskrit of 12th Century CE. The first line starts with
“Om Namah Shivaya”. The 15th, 17th and the 19th lines speak about the details of the
grand temple and the king who built it. The 15th line clearly mentions that the temple was
dedicated to “Vishnu Hari who killed Dasanan (Ravan)”. About 250 Hindu artifacts were
also found from the rubble, that are presently under the control of the Court.
26. Makeshift temple with Tarpaulins was erected by Kar Sewaks on the same spot
where Sri Ram Lala was seated before demolition. Approximately 67 acres of land was
acquired by an ordinance by the then Central Government headed by Sri P.V. Narasimha
Rao in the name of safeguarding Sri Ram Lala. This ordinance was approved by the
Parliament through an Act on January 07, 1993.
27. A lawyer Hari Shankar Jain approached the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High
Court for grant of permission for the regular Sewa-Puja of Sri Ram Lala by devotees.
Permission was granted on 1.1.1993. Since then the nonstop Darshan-Pooja has been
going on.
28. The then Mahamahim President of India Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma referred a
question to the Supreme Court under Article 143-A of the Constitution of India. The
question was “Whether a Hindu Temple or any Hindu religious structure existed prior
to the construction of the Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid in the area on which the
structure stood?” Also the acquisition by the Central Government was challenged by
one Sri Ismail Farooqui and a few others.
29. The Supreme Court heard all the above petitions and also the special presidential
reference jointly for about 20 months and delivered its judgment on 24th October, 1994.
The Supreme Court said: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court would decide
the title of the disputed site and answer the special reference made by the President.
30. A three-Judge (two Hindus and one Muslim) Full Bench started hearing the matters
in 1995. Issues were reframed. Oral evidences began to be recorded.
31. To find out the direct answer to the presidential special reference, in August 2002,
the said Bench ordered Ground Penetrating Radar Survey (GPRS) of the site which was
conducted by the Tojo Vikas International with its expert from Canada. The expert
mentioned in his report the existence of a huge structure extending over a large area
underneath the demolished structure scientifically proving thereby that the Babri
structure was not built on a virgin land as was claimed by Muslims in their civil suit filed
in December 1961 before the Civil Judge of Faizabad. The expert also gave his opinion
to verify the GPRS report through scientific excavation.
32. In 2003, the High Court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the
site scientifically and verify the GPRS report. The excavation was conducted in the
presence of two observers appointed by the Court (two Additional District Judges of
Faizabad). The parties concerned, their counsels, their experts/representatives were
permitted to remain present during excavation. To maintain impartiality, it was ordered
that 40% of the labour would be Muslims. Minute to minute videography and still
photography of excavation were done by the ASI. The excavation was eye-opening. So
many walls, floors, two rows of pillar-bases at 50 equidistant places were found. A Shiva
temple was also seen. The GPRS report and the ASI report are now part and parcel of the
High Court records.
33. The civil procedure of the Court of Law in the matter is now over after an exercise
of about 60 years (40 years in the District Court and 20 years in the High Court) and the final
verdict is expected by the end of September, 2010. Although all evidence is in
favour of the Hindu claim that the Babri structure was superimposed on the Sri
Rama Janma Bhumi site after demolishing the temple that marked the site, still
nobody can predict about the judgment. It is obvious that the judgment will create
unrest in one party and its followers in the populace. This party may challenge the
High Court verdict in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, however, may or
may not take notice of it. In any case, every Indian citizen knows the fate of the
Supreme Court judgment in Shahbano case. The ball, thus, may finally be in the
court of the Parliament of India as we have always been demanding that the
Parliament should pass a law and handover the Sri Rama Janma Bhumi to the
Hindu society.
34. In the original Constitution of India, there are illustrations of factors of Bharatiya
national certitude. The third illustration in the said volume is that of Lord Ram and
comrades returning to Ayodhya riding the aerial vehicle Pushpak Viman after his victory
in Lanka.
35. The double storeyed proposed temple with 108 pillars in each storey will be 270 ft.
long, 135 ft. wide and 125 ft. high and the temple ringed by a 10 ft. wide Parikrama
Marg (circumambulation path). Wall thickness will be 6 ft and door frames will be made
of white Makrana marble. Carving work has been done at 5 workshops [two at Ayodhya
(U.P.), one at Makrana (Raj.) and three at Pindwara (Rajasthan)]. 60% of carving work is complete till
date.
36. Sants and Dharmacharyas in their meeting held on April 05, 2010 at Haridwar
Kumbh Mela-2010 declared to organize Hanuman Chalisha Paath all over the
country under the banner of “Sri Hanumat Shakti Jagaran Samity” from Tulsi Jayanti
(16th Aug., 2010) to Akshyay Navami (16th Nov., 2010) and Sri Hanumat Shakti Jagaran
Maha Yajna in every Prakhand during the month from Devotthani Ekadasi (17th Nov.,
2010) to Gita Jayanti (16th Dec., 2010). These Yagnas will be organized at approx. 8,000
centres in Bharat.