The Restoration of Ayodhya: Reviving the Glory of Sri Ram Mandir
Anuradha Dutt and S Kumar
₹786₹995(21% off)
ISBN 13
9788182904866
Year
2020
Ayodhya’s fame as one of the sacred cities that are believed to bestow liberation has been overshadowed by the renewed struggle for control of Sri Ram’s birthplace. Upsurge in militant Hinduism is a throwback to the early medieval age when Sanatan Dharma custodians countered heresies and alien assaults. The question whether Sri Ramjanmabhumi temple preceded Babri Masjid at Ramkot is resolved by faith, cultural heritage, archaeological findings and Allahabad High Court verdict in September 2010. Worship of deities continues at the disputed site. The legacy that centres on Lord Ram largely predates emergence of Islam about 1,400 years ago. Belief in his descent as Vishnu’s seventh avatar and preeminence as redeemer, embedded in the collective Indian psyche through millennia, has precedence over recent attempts to doubt his historicity. The question really is: Who will finally build Sri Ramjanmabhumi temple? The narrative tracks down sages and sants, historians, archaeologists and litigants to piece together a saga of political one-upmanship, communal posturing and plunder. It unearths irrefutable proof of successive old temples at the disputed site; reveals arcane aspects of the story; and demystifies common notions. Significant facts that underlie the destruction of Babri Masjid by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992 are brought to light. Past struggles, 79 perhaps, over the hallowed birthplace commenced in the 3rd century BC when Minander, a ‘Yavan’, vandalised it. Salar Masud’s attack in 1033 AD was followed by destruction of the shrine in 1528 by Mir Baqi, commander of the Mughal Babar. A mosque was built with temple remains. Usurping pilgrimages, even of kindred Semitic faiths Judaism and Christianity, was the political trajectory for extending the dominion of Islam. This is detailed, as too acts of native collusion.