
By Justice Markandey Katju—
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
A bhavya (magnificent) Ram Temple has been built in Ayodhya, costing ₹18,000 crore ($2.1 billion), which is going to be consecrated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a “pran pratishtha” ceremony on January 22, an event that will be widely covered by the Indian media.
I have great respect for Lord Ram, about whom I have written earlier here and here.
However, there are some questions about this temple that have been troubling me for long:
The original Valmiki Ramayana and later versions
The original Ramayan was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit, perhaps 2500 years ago, or more. All subsequent Ramayans in various languages (including Tulsidas’ work) are based on Valmiki’s epic. In Valmiki’s Ramayan, Ram is depicted not as a god but as a human being, though with great virtues (“Maryada Purushottam”).
He is spoken of as a prince, who later became a king. Nowhere is he mentioned as a god. It is 2000 years later in Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas, written in the 16th century AD in the Avadhi dialect, that Ram is transformed into a god, an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu.
Temples are built for gods and goddesses, not for humans. So, how can one build a temple for Ram, who is a human being according to the original Ramayan of Valmiki?
Unfortunately, few people know Sanskrit, and therefore, have not read Valmiki’s Ramayan. They have only read Tulsidas’ work, and so they conceive of Ram as a god.
The age of Ramayan and Ram
In the Vishnu Puran, a Sanskrit work, it is mentioned that we are living in Kali Yug, which will be 432,000 years long, Before Kali Yug, there was Dwaapar Yug, which lasted twice as long as Kali Yug, i.e., 864,000 years. Before Dwaapar Yug, there was Treta Yug, which was thrice as long as Kali Yug (1,296,000 years). And before even that was Sat Yuga which was four times as long as Kali Yug (1.728 million years).
Lord Ram was said to have been born in Treta Yug, i.e. before Dwaapar Yug (in which Lord Krishna was born). we could surmise, therefore, that Lord Ram was born about a million years ago.
How then can it be possibly said where exactly was he born? How could it be possibly said that Ram was born on the very site of the demolished Babri Masjid? One may have heard where one’s father or grandfather was born, but hardly anyone can go further and get to know of the birth places of earlier ancestors. So how can one know where someone was born a million years ago?
My mind boggles when people say Ram was born precisely at this spot.
My thoughts on the Supreme Court judgement
In para 798 of the Ayodhya Temple verdict (M. Siddiq vs Mahant Suresh Das), delivered in 2019, the Indian Supreme Court observed:
“The exclusion of Muslims from worship and possession took place on the intervening night between 22/23.12.1949 when the mosque was desecrated by installation of Hindu idols. Ouster of Muslims was not through lawful authority, and Muslims have been wrongly deprived of a mosque that had been constructed well over 450 years ago.”
Despite this clear observation that the Babri mosque was demolished illegally, by a strange feat of logic, the Supreme Court sanctioned the illegality by awarding the site of the mosque to Hindu organisations, and an alternative site to Muslims.
In substance, the court said that might is right, and has laid down a dangerous precedent sanctifying aggression.
As fact-checking website Alt News’ co-founder Pratik Sinha said, it is like a bully snatching a child’s sandwich in school, and the teacher giving a ‘balanced judgment’ by allowing the bully to keep the sandwich, and giving the child a slice of dry bread as ‘restitution’.
I am afraid I have a dense mind, so I wish some bright person (or persons) could enlighten me on these points which have been troubling me for long.