India’s Response to Ram Mandir Inauguration

• There are around 1.2 billion Hindus in the world.
• 1.1 billion of these live in India.

The inauguration of the Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya, India on January 22 was a long time coming. The response from the Indian population has been overwhelming. Millions of people have already visited the temple, with famous Bollywood actors and international cricket stars amongst the attendees.

Amid the celebration of securing it after a years of battle, we are privileged to announce the launch of our India Corridor on the same day. This enables people in Australia to send money to India for their families, make donations, or support noble causes.

What is Ram Mandir?

The holy site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, known as Ram Janmabhoomi. Lord Ram is one of the most revered deities in the Hindu faith. The consecration is a fulfilment of a decades-old pledge to build the temple; the construction of which began back in 2020. Whilst the inauguration is complete, construction still has to be completed, which is expected in around December.

The temple sits on a 2.7 acre plot, in a larger complex around 70 acres in size. The temple has been constructed in the traditional Nagara style, and is an impressive 380 feet wide.

Even more impressive is the ingenuity of the design. The temple has been engineered to withstand large earthquakes. Debdutta Ghosh, a senior scientist at CSIR-CBRI told the Hindustan Times that a “scientific study was done to ensure the structural safety of the temple for the Maximum Considered Earthquake, equivalent to a 2,500-year return period”.

The temple was constructed using bansi paharpur sandstone with no steel reinforcement, and is designed to last a thousand years. Every part of the temple’s exterior has been decorated with flowers and Hindu symbols and motifs, making it both very spiritually significant and a true sight to behold.

Cost

​​It is believed the temple cost around ₹1,800 crore to construct, making it one of the most expensive religious projects in India in recent years. This is nearly twice as much as the Vishv Umiya Dham in Gujarat, which is 431 feet high.

Closures

In the lead up to the Pran Prathishtha ceremony on January 22, many different Indian states declared a full or a half public holiday, as well as various closures. For example, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath enforced the closure of educational institutions and liquor shops throughout the day. In Goa, all government employees and schools enjoyed holidays, while government offices in Uttarakhand were closed until 2:30pm.

The closures were very wide-ranging. The National Stock Exchange was closed down for the full day, and banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions had half-day closures. The National Company Law Tribunal closed for half the day as well.

The crowd

Thousands upon thousands of people from the general public were there for the opening. There was something of a party atmosphere as around 2500 musicians performed on 100 stages all around the temple. Millions have attended since; mainly Hindu devotees, but also some of Ayodhya’s Muslim community. There has been a significant desire for so many people to make it; as one 18-year-old, for example, spent four days walking and hitchhiking 600 kilometres to get to Ayodhya, stating he just wanted “to see the temple”.

The celebrations haven’t been confined just to the temple’s complex. Devotees took to the streets of Ayodhya and have been seen praying in the Sarayu River and performing rituals. Many people have been carrying saffron flags, wearing flowers and chanting religious slogans.

Whilst a large number of religious sites are frequented by people in India, the Ram Mandir has already proven to be one of the most popular destinations in the country. The Golden temple, also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib, located in Amritsar, Punjab attracts between 30-35 million people every year, while the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh gets up to 30 million. Incredibly, in the first two days after the inauguration, the Ram Mandir had already brought in 8 million visitors. This is more than Vaishno Devi and Ajmer Sharif in a year.

Donations

These places receive large amounts of money in donations over the course of a year. The Ram Mandir received more than Rs 3 crore on each of the first two days after inauguration.

But the donations weren’t limited to just money. According to livemint.com, the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust received a donation of a silver broom weighing 1.751 kilograms, by devotees of Ram who belong to the Akhil Bharatiya Mang Samaj. The group proudly held up the broom, which was adorned with garlands, and asked that it be used to clean the Garbha Griha.

Celebrity involvement

The celebrity involvement was vast. For example, many of the Ambani family were there, and they even contributed Rs 2.51 crore to the Ram Bhumi Temple Trust.

On the acting front, Bollywood royalty, Amitabh Bachchan was in attendance. He shared pictures of himself from inside the temple wearing a traditional outfit, a shawl, with a caption reading: “A day filled with the relevance of divine spirit… back from the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya”. Other actors in attendance included Ram Charan, Dhanush, Jackie Shroff, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, and Katrina Kaif.

In the lead up to the event, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he would “definitely visit the Ram temple”. He also described the Pran Pratishtha ceremony and the consecration as a “historic day”. Is more strange news, Virat Kohli had been slated to attend the consecration, and in the days following, old images of him were used to claim he had attended, and even a Kohli look alike was mistaken for the legendary batsman. But he was not in attendance.

Nonetheless, Sachin Tendulkar did grace the event with his presence, as did others like Anil Kumble, Ravindra Jadeja and Venkatesh Prasad

Breaking the silence

In Jharkhand, an 85-year-old woman had conducted a 30 year vow of silence, waiting for the temple to be constructed. Saraswati Devi was seen on video saying the words “Jai Shri Ram” which translates to “Glory to Lord Rama”, before breaking down in tears. Her family were very emotional upon seeing her speak, and many of her neighbours had never seen her speak a single word.

Significance

The Ram Mandir is seen by some Hindus as comparative to sites in other religions. For example, Mithilesh Jha or Janakpur in Nepal, explained that “It is a matter of great pride for us that Lord Ram has finally come home. Like Christians have Vatican City and Muslims have Mecca, Ayodhya is for Hindus. This day has come after a long wait”. Like in those other cases, it is clear the Ram Mandir is significant not just for Indians, but also for Hindus living abroad.

Conclusion

The Ram Mandir is certain to be a significant site to Hindus for generations to come. Millions of Indians will make the pilgrimage every year, many of which will be based abroad.

Send money to India today, and check out our blog page, to learn more about the more than one hundred countries you can send money to with e-Pocket.