Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas

Last updated

Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (translation: Ram Birthplace Trust) is an organisation which was formed as a trust to promote and oversee the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, India at the Ram Janmabhoomi, the reputed site of the birth of the Hindu deity Rama. [1] The Nyas was formed by members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council). [1]

Contents

On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court of India ruled to constitute a Trust to build a temple on the entire 2.77 acres of the land by the Central Government, not this Nyas. On 5 February 2020, the Central Government constituted the trust named Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra which is headed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. [2]

Ayodhya dispute

In Hindu tradition, the birthplace of the deity Rama, known as "Ram Janmabhoomi", is considered a holy site. This site is often believed to be located in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, at the place where the Babri Masjid stood. Historical evidence to support this belief is scarce, and several historians have stated that Ayodhya became a religious centre with a number of temples only in the 18th century AD. [3] [4] [5] Following the Mughal conquest of the region in 1528, Mughal general Mir Baqi built a mosque named the Babri Masjid under the orders of Babur in Ayodhya; an inscription on its wall mentions this. [6] According to hearsay, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. Limited historical evidence exists to support this theory, and the existence of the temple itself is a matter of controversy. [4] [5] [7] Numerous historians have stated that there is limited evidence to support the notion that Rama was born at the precise location of the Babri Masjid, or that a temple to Rama once stood at the site. [3] The first recorded claim that the mosque stood on the site of Rama's birth was made in 1822. [4] Citing this claim, the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect, laid claim to the mosque, resulting in inter-communal violence in the period 1853–55. [4] In 1949, an idol of Rama was surreptitiously placed inside the mosque, [8] and an attempt was made to convince devotees that it had appeared miraculously. [9] An official investigation concluded that the mosque had been desecrated and the idol placed there by three men, together with a large band of supporters. [4] In the 1980s, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lent its support to an agitation to build a temple to Rama at the site of the Babri Masjid, and the mosque was attacked and demolished in December 1992 during a rally organised by the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. [9]

Foundation

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) was founded as an independent trust by members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad on 25 January 1993 to take charge of the site of Ram Janmabhoomi and oversee the construction of the proposed Rama temple. [1] [10] Ramchandra Paramhans was head of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, succeeded upon his death in 2003 by Nritya Gopal Das. [11] Its members argued that the Nyas was created so that the Government of India would not control the site and end up involving itself in the construction of the temple. [1] The RJN also operates workshops in Karsevakpuram (City of Volunteers), a major encampment of volunteer activists (called Karsevaks) outside Ayodhya preparing to undertake the construction of the temple. [10]

2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute

It has been suggested that a Rama temple formerly existed at the same site as the Babri Masjid, an idea supported by a court-ordered report of the Archaeological Survey of India following archaeological excavations around the ruins of the mosque, though the existence of this temple and the conclusions of the report are disputed. [12] [13] The Allahabad High Court, based on the report by the Archeological Survey of India ruled that the disputed site should be split into three parts, with one-third going to the Muslim Sunni Waqf Board, another third to the Nirmohi Akhara and the rest to Ram Lalla Virajman with the right to sue and be sued as a juristic person. [14] However, the RJN claimed that it was the rightful party to take possession of the land and said it would appeal to the Supreme Court of India to seek possession of the entire site. [15]

2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute

The final hearing in the Supreme Court ended on 16 October 2019. The bench reserved the final judgment and granted three days to contesting parties to file written notes on 'moulding of relief' or narrowing down the issues on which the court is required to adjudicate. [16]

The final judgement in the Supreme Court was officially declared on 9 November 2019. [17] The Court ordered the entire disputed land of area of 2.77 acres to be allocated for the construction of a temple while an alternative piece of land of area of 5 acres be allocated to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque at a suitable place within Ayodhya. [18] [19] [20] [21]

Aftermath

On 5 February 2020, the government announced the creation of the trust to be known as Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra. [22] [23] The construction of the Ram Mandir commenced in August 2020 and the temple was consecrated with the deity of Balak Ram on 22 January 2024. [24] [25] [26] [27] The mosque construction project was formally launched by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board by hoisting the national flag and planting saplings on Republic Day of 2021; the Mosque complex includes a hospital, museum, library, a community kitchen which can feed a maximum of 2000 people per day, an Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre and Publication House in addition to the mosque. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayodhya</span> City in Uttar Pradesh, India

Ayodhya is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babri Masjid</span> Destroyed mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India

Babri Masjid was a mosque in Ayodhya, India. It has been claimed to have been built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 19th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 1528–29 by Mir Baqi, a commander of the Mughal emperor Babur. Before the 1940s, the masjid was officially known as "Masjid-i-Janmasthan". The mosque was attacked and demolished by a Hindu nationalist mob in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the Indian subcontinent.

Ram Janmabhoomi is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu river in a city called "Ayodhya". Modern-day Ayodhya is in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is contested whether the Ayodhya mentioned in the Ramayana is the same as the modern city.

On 5 July 2005, five Lashkar-e-Taiba's terrorists attacked the makeshift Ram temple at the site of destroyed Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India. All five were shot dead in the ensuing gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), while one civilian died in the grenade attack that the attackers launched in order to breach the cordoned wall. The CRPF suffered three casualties, two of whom were seriously injured with multiple gunshot wounds.

The archaeology of Ayodhya concerns the excavations and findings in the Indian city of Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh, much of which surrounds the Babri Mosque location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayodhya dispute</span> Political, historical and socio-religious debate in India, centred on land in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

The Ayodhya dispute is a political, historical, and socio-religious debate in India, centred on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The issues revolve around the control of a site regarded since at least the 18th century among many Hindus to be the birthplace of their deity Rama, the history and location of the Babri Masjid mosque at the site, and whether a previous Hindu temple was demolished or modified to create the mosque.

Kishore Kunal is a former officer of the Indian Police Service from the state of Bihar, India. During his police career, he was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (Ayodhya) by the prime minister V. P. Singh to mediate between the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Babri Masjid Action Committee on the Ayodhya dispute. He continued to serve in this position during the premierships of Chandra Sekhar and P. V. Narasimha Rao.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demolition of the Babri Masjid</span> 1992 religious riot in India

The demolition of the Babri Masjid was carried out on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The 16th-century Babri Masjid in the city of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India, had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent.

<i>Ram Rath Yatra</i> 1990 political–religious rally in India

The Ram Rath Yatra was a political and religious rally that lasted from September to October 1990. It was organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu nationalist affiliates, and led by the then-president of the BJP, L. K. Advani. The purpose of the yatra was to support the agitation, led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar, to erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Masjid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suraj Bhan (archaeologist)</span> Indian archaeologist

Suraj Bhan (1931–2010) was an Indian archaeologist and professor of archaeology. His academic work was said to bear a deep imprint of Marxism. He was also involved with the work of Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Haryana and took particular interest in the People's Science movement.

<i>Ram ke Naam</i> 1992 Indian film

Ram ke Naam is a 1992 documentary by Indian filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. The film explores the campaign waged by the right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad to build a temple to the Hindu deity Ram at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, as well as the communal violence that it triggered. A couple of months after Ram ke Naam was released, activists of the VHP and other Hindu nationalist groups demolished the Babri Masjid in 1992, provoking further violence. The film earned Patwardhan a wide recognition, and received several national and international awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayodhya firing incident</span> Police firing in Ayodhya

The Ayodhya firing describes the occasion when the Uttar Pradesh police opened fire at civilians because they were heading to demolish the Babri Masjid on two separate days, 30 October 1990 and 2 November 1990, in the aftermath of the Ram Rath Yatra. The civilians were religious volunteers, or kar sevaks, assembled near the Ram Janmabhoomi site at Ayodhya. The state government's official records report that at least 17 people were killed.

<i>Ram Ki Janmabhoomi</i> Hindi-language Indian film

Ram Ki Janmabhoomi is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Sanoj Mishra. The film is produced and written by Jitendra Narayan Singh and stars Manoj Joshi and Govind Namdev. The movie deals with the controversial issue of Ram Mandir. The film was theatrically released on 29 March 2019. It is produced by Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute</span> Indian land dispute ruling

The final judgement in the Ayodhya dispute was declared by the Supreme Court of India on 9 November 2019. The Supreme Court ordered the disputed land to be handed over to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. The court also ordered the government to give an alternative 5 acres of land in another place to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosque as a replacement for the demolished Babri Masjid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra</span> Trust for a Hindu temple in Ayodhya, India

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra is a trust set up for the construction and management of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya by the Government of India in February 2020. The trust is composed of 15 trustees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Mandir</span> Temple of the Hindu deity Rama in Ayodhya, India

The Ram Mandir is a partially constructed Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the mythical birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism. The temple was inaugurated on 22 January 2024 after a prana pratishtha (consecration) ceremony. On the first day of its opening, following the consecration, the temple received a rush of over half a million visitors, and after a month, the average number of visitors was reported to be "1 to 1.5 lakh on a daily basis".

Baba Lal Das was first ever Mahant of the idols of the deity Rama placed within the Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya. He was appointed to his position by the Lucknow High Court in 1981. Lal Das was a fierce critic of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, and he criticized these groups in the 1992 documentary Ram ke Naam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nritya Gopal Das</span> Hindu temple chief (born 1938)

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das is the head of Ayodhya's largest temple, the Mani Ram Das Ki Chavani, and the chief of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, bodies formed to undertake the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. He is also the head of the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consecration of the Ram Mandir</span> Hindu Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya

The consecration of the Ram Mandir was held at Ayodhya on 22 January 2024 on a disputed site of the 16th-century Babri mosque which was destroyed by crowds of Hindu nationalist supporters back in 1992. The event was organized by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balak Ram (idol)</span> Child form of Hindu deity Rama

Balak Ram is the primary murti (idol) of the Ram Mandir, a Hindu temple built in Nagara style at the presumed location of Ram Janmabhoomi, the mythical birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama, at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, to commemorate the birth of Rama. The location is loaded, and the building of the mandir is controversial due to the demolition of a mosque formerly located at the place, and is an important subject of political debate in India.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Manjari Katju (2003). Vishva Hindu Parishad and Indian politics. Orient Blackswan. pp. 72–102. ISBN   978-81-250-2476-7.
  2. ↑ "Trust Members". Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 Gopal, Sarvepalli; Thapar, Romila; Chandra, Bipan; Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi; Jaiswal, Suvira; Mukhia, Harbans; Panikkar, K. N.; Champakalakshmi, R.; Saberwal, Satish; Chattopadhyaya, B. D.; Verma, R. N.; Meenakshi, K.; Alam, Muzaffar; Singh, Dilbagh; Mukherjee, Mridula; Palat, Madhavan; Mukherjee, Aditya; Ratnagar, S. F.; Bhattacharya, Neeladri; Trivedi, K. K.; Sharma, Yogesh; Chakravarti, Kunal; Josh, Bhagwan; Gurukkal, Rajan; Ray, Himanshu (January 1990). "The Political Abuse of History: Babri Masjid-Rama Janmabhumi Dispute". Social Scientist. 18 (1/2): 76–81. doi:10.2307/3517330. JSTOR   3517330.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Udayakumar, S.P. (August 1997). "Historicizing Myth and Mythologizing History: The 'Ram Temple' Drama". Social Scientist. 25 (7): 11–26. doi:10.2307/3517601. JSTOR   3517601.
  5. 1 2 Sharma, Ram Sharan (2003). "The Ayodhya Issue". In Layton, Robert; Thomas, Julian (eds.). Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property. Routledge. pp. 127–137. ISBN   9781134604982.
  6. ↑ Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited 2016, p. xxix, Chapter 5.
  7. ↑ Avari, Burjor (2013). Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Routledge. pp. 231–247. ISBN   9780415580618.
  8. ↑ Panikkar, K.M. (July 1993). "Religious Symbols and Political Mobilization: The Agitation for a Mandir at Ayodhya". Social Scientist. 21 (7): 63–78. doi:10.2307/3520346. JSTOR   3520346.
  9. 1 2 Guha, Ramachandra (2007). India after Gandhi: the history of the world's largest democracy (1st ed.). India: Picador. pp. 582–598. ISBN   978-0-330-39610-3.
  10. 1 2 "Celebration in Karsevakpuram is premature". 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "Ramchandra Paramhans". The Telegraph. 6 August 2003. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Jaffrelot, Christophe (7 December 2015). "Ayodhya Issue". In Smith, Anthony D; Hou, Xiaoshuo; Stone, John; Dennis, Rutledge; Rizova, Polly (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism (1 ed.). Wiley. pp. 1–3. doi:10.1002/9781118663202.wberen644. ISBN   978-1-4051-8978-1. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  13. ↑ Etter, Anne-Julie (14 December 2020). "Creating Suitable Evidence of the Past? Archaeology, Politics, and Hindu Nationalism in India from the End of the Twentieth Century to the Present". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (24/25). doi: 10.4000/samaj.6926 . ISSN   1960-6060. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Bajpai, Namita (9 November 2019). "High Court verdict on 3-way division of land failed to settle dispute". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "Nyas to move SC, says 'no question of victory or loss'". Indian Express. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  16. ↑ "Ayodhya case: SC concludes hearing". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Ayodhya verdict live updates: Supreme Court delivers judgement on Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya land dispute: 10 Key takeaways". The Times of India . 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  19. ↑ The Hindu Net Desk (9 November 2019). "Highlights of the Ayodhya verdict". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  20. ↑ "Damage, desecration & demolition of Babri Masjid illegal acts, says SC". The Times of India . 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  21. ↑ "Hindus made a better case, Waqf Board couldn't prove exclusive possession of Ayodhya site: SC". The Times of India . 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  22. ↑ "সুপ্রিম কোর্টের রায়: অযোধ্যার বিতর্কিত জমিতে রামমন্দির হবে, মসজিদ বিকল্প জায়গায়". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  23. ↑ Saha, Poulomi (5 February 2020). "Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra: PM Modi announces formation of Ayodhya temple trust". India Today. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  24. ↑ Travelli, Alex; Kumar, Hari (22 January 2024). "Why India's New Ram Temple Is So Important". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  25. ↑ Mogul, Rhea (20 January 2024). "A decades long Hindu nationalist dream is about to be achieved. What does this mean?". CNN. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  26. ↑ "Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Date, aarti timings, darshan, and other details here". Mint. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  27. ↑ "Ayodhya Ram Mandir highlights: Celebration, lamps, fireworks light up the nation as it witnesses a historic day". Deccan Herald . 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  28. ↑ "Ayodhya's Dhannipur mosque project launched with unfurling of tricolour on Republic day". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 January 2021.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.