How My Opinion Evolved over time on Ram Mandir as I Stood Face-to-Face with the Facts

About a month ago, I came across this post by an X account called The Skin Doctor (@theskindoctor13) that said,

“Did you, now a Ram-bhakt, ever consider at some point in your life, ‘Why fight for a temple or a mosque? Let’s build a school or a hospital there instead.’

If yes, it’s not your fault. You grew up in a compromised society and a subverted education system that detached you from your religion, history, and culture, even made you feel ashamed about it.
However, you deserve credit for not adhering to the flawed concept of secularism when faced with truth, logic, and reasoning, unlike numerous others who continue to cling to it. You were objective enough to see through that subversion and emerge as a proud Hindu.”

I relate to that because that’s exactly the idea I had about as much as 6–7 years ago. Why is there this whole fuss about “just one temple”? And this was the time when the last judgment on the case was by the Allahabad (now Prayagraj) High Court. One idea was that a country that has yet to achieve so much and needs to develop itself in so many ways, why is it wasting so much time and energy over a temple? Why not build schools, universities, hospitals, infrastructure, jobs, etc., which will make us a developed country?

So, what changed over time?

A couple of things need to be understood when it comes to people who think Mandir is a waste of time:

• They think the mandir is just where you go to pray and has no real utility or significance
• They don’t know the significance of the site, or it doesn’t register to them as important
• They think economic development and civilizational pride are mutually exclusive. They think the latter is fungible and the former is what matters only.
• They don’t read enough, especially about the history of the movement. Most of them think that history started in 1992.
• They think that most people in support of Ram temple are doing it due to their political affiliation

Becoming Aware of the Significance of the Site

Many people, especially people who have not learned or understood why there is so much fuss about one temple, think that it’s just one temple that was demolished by some Islamic invader to build a mosque over it (some even deny that), and now Hindus want revenge by destroying that mosque and rebuild temple over it. This is the oversimplification that many have consumed.

One needs to read a bit, or if you’re not really into reading, listen to the scholars on the Hindu side about the significance of the site. The demand for the temple is not out of the blue. One cannot disagree that Shri Rama and Sita are two of India’s most widely revered deities, with hundreds of millions of devotees. So, demanding a temple, which was already there to begin with, before it was destroyed by a foreign invader — I am not sure how that is unjustified.

Becoming Aware of the Significance of Temples

Many people have this question — “Why temple? What purpose do temples serve to society? We can pray at our home as well, no?”

One of the most common misconceptions about places of worship, which we have inherited from Abrahamic religions, is that the places of worship are for the followers of that religion. It is just a place of prayer, and you can go to any place of worship to do that. That is what makes them disposable. One needs to do a bit of reading to understand that this is not the case with Hindu temples. Although temples do serve some purpose of congregation for the followers, and you can pray there, that is not the primary reason for the temple’s existence.

Every temple belongs to the deity. The rules followed in a particular temple depend on the deity and, in some cases, the specific form in which the deity resides. That is why you may see different rules for the two different temples of the same deity — for example, Sabarimala temples. You go to a particular temple with reverence for what that particular site signifies in connection with the deity. Shaktipeethas have their own significance. Jyotirlingas have their own significance. Dwaraka and Mathura are religious sites because of a specific reason. Kailash Mansarovar has a specific significance. So, if you don’t revere the significance, you always have an option to NOT go to that temple.

In this context, the Ram Temple demand emanates because it is believed to be the birthplace of Prabhu Shri Rama, and one really needs to be dumb to consider that insignificant.

Becoming Aware that History Did Not Start in 1992

The media and Leftist-Marxist historians of the country, unfortunately, have misled us into believing that the whole issue of Ram Mandir started with the demolition of the mosque. This is akin to the similar strategy I have seen with respect to the 2002 Gujarat riots where the media and Leftists-Marxists-Islamists, whenever talking about it, skip the genesis of the riots, i.e. burning alive of dozens of people by setting the train coach on fire. This liberty with historical timeline has been a characteristic of the establishment historians and media.

In the case of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, the battle has been going on since 1528 (496 years ago) when the temple was razed to build a mosque over it. As early as 1853 (171 years ago) the first claim (or re-claim) by Hindus over the site was made. The year 1885 (139 years ago) saw the first court request with respect to the site. The case, whose judgment came in 2019, was filed in 1949 (75 years ago). Only during the 80s (~40 years ago) did the movement get a huge boost from the country-wide campaign launched to involve the masses. The beginning of the 90s saw a massacre where police, under the orders of the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh — Mulayam Singh Yadav, opened fire several times on the karsevaks, comprising women and elderly as well, killing close to 40–50 (official figures say 28 while BJP maintains 56). Many of them were not even offered proper last rites, and the bodies were thrown away, tied with sandbags, in the Saruyu River.

This video really puts things in perspective.

Many falsely associate the 1992 demolition with the judgement of 2019, not knowing that the cases on demolition are separate. Part of the blame definitely goes to the media and Leftist-Marxist “intellectuals” who gave such an impression or never bothered to clarify it.

Economic Development and Civilizational Pride are Not Mutually Exclusive

A lot of people say, “We need schools, universities, and hospitals in this country. Why are we wasting our time on building new temples?”
Well, aren’t there new churches, mosques and other places of worship built? What benefit does society get from these new bars and ultra-expensive restaurants? It’s amusing to see this sudden and very, very special concern for the social development of this country the moment any Hindu temple is built.

Why is it that the construction of a Hindu temple is believed to halt all other economic and social development projects across the country? A temple that was built with private money (mostly donations from average Hindu households), using private labour, on land handed over to the trust by the court. For those who are aware, the only token investment by the government in this temple construction is Rs.1 as an apology for the injustice done to the Hindu community for so many years, even after independence.

Secondly, a mature and learned person understands that everything goes hand-in-hand. The resurrection of our civilizational heritage won’t come at the cost of social and economic development projects; those projects don’t have to make our civilization’s pride wait. One needs to look at the number of new AIIMS, IITs, IIMs, ITIs and other universities that have been constructed in the last ten years. More than 250 medical colleges have been built in the last ten years. IMF has observed India’s stupendous economic growth during the global slowdown. The UPI has revolutionized the way we conduct our finances. While the Ram Temple was being constructed in Ayodhya during COVID, we produced a completely in-house developed vaccine that we exported to dozens of countries while also becoming an overnight exporter of PPE kits and N-95 masks (which we did not produce before COVID). I can go on and on, but I have made my point.

Lastly, if someone thinks that temples do not aid economic or social development, they need to read and understand more. At least in India’s case, where only temples (not mosques, churches, or gurdwaras) are under government control, anyone who is keeping abreast of news knows that the government earns billions from the temples all over India. It’s a different issue that none of these earnings are used to improve temple facilities but instead are used to execute secular projects. Spiritual tourism generates thousands, if not millions, of jobs and economic opportunities across the country.

Historically, temples have served as places of significant economic, social and educational activity. I would recommend reading the book “The Educational Heritage of Ancient India” by Sahana Singh or watching this video to learn more.

The West Talks About Decolonization, But We Set It In Action

There is much chatter around decolonization in the West and getting rid of the colonial past. I have observed that such chatter only happens as long as the colonized are not a political threat to the establishment. For example, in Canada, there is a lot of lip service and sympathy for the wrongs done to the First Nations, Metis and Inuits. In the United States, it’s not even that much. But, although this is very unlikely to happen, see how the behaviour changes if the same First Nations, Metis, and Inuits become a strong political force.

In India, getting rid of the colonial past was okay till it was done against the British when city names were changed (Bombay became Mumbai, Calcutta became Kolkata, Madras became Chennai) or King George’s statue was toppled. No Christians in India were offended. But dare you talk about getting rid of the relics of colonizers before that?

The same Marxist-Leftists who were more than zealous to getting rid of confederate names in the United States or topple the John A Macdonald statue in Canada are suddenly finding Hindus as fascists and oppressive when a colonizer construction constructed by destroying an indigenous place of worship is being reclaimed by the indigenous population. Such offence cannot be taken unless these very people “relate” to the colonizer himself.

I was able to see through this hypocrisy.

Understanding Why Ramayana Connects with So Many Hindus Around the World

When I was a kid, my father invested his time during one of my summer vacations to tell me the story of Ramayana. He was a fantastic storyteller. While his descriptions were very elaborate, they never came across as boring to me. So, while I was familiar with the story and had my own learning from it, I never invested any time in understanding why it connects with such a huge group of Hindus around the world.

With the internet and social media, it became clearer, though. In the last few years, I have seen a transformation in terms of what more I can learn from the life of Shri Ram and Sita that helps me become a better person every day. Two names — Ami Ganatra and Srirama Chakradhar Garu — are must-watch/reads who have answered some of the most pressing questions, especially from youngsters who find some of the incidents in Ramayana seemingly discriminatory and objectionable. When you become aware, you become more confident.

(I am putting a reaction video below because YouTube decided to remove this channel as they were standing up for truth and against the establishment bosses)

It’s my conviction that anyone who researches genuinely about the movement would be able to understand why dozens of millions of Hindus — even the ones who have never been to India but have grown up in a Hindu household — are so passionate about this temple.