 "Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara in Ayodhya")
Amidst the grand consecration ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, an emotional moment was witnessed after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Uma Bharti and religious saint Sadhvi Ritambhara, who played a significant role in the Ram Temple movement, exchanged hugs and broke down after meeting each other and embracing with teary eyes.
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh | BJP leader Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara hug each other ahead of Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha ceremony today pic.twitter.com/zfFjPJoVbh
— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2024
Both Sadhvis congratulated each other on the much-anticipated event that occurred today. The two fought back tears, their eyes reflecting how far they and their political mission had progressed.
For the BJP leader, who was in the vanguard of the temple movement, the clock had turned back. "I am in front of the Ram temple in Ayodhya; we are waiting for Ram Lalla," Bharti posted on X along with a photograph, minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi climbed the stairs of the grand Ram temple for the "pran pratistha" rituals.
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मैं अयोध्या में राम मंदिर के सामने हूं, रामलला की प्रतीक्षा हो रही है।@BJP4India @BJP4MP @ShriAyodhya_ @RamNagariAyodhy pic.twitter.com/2NDjQZhQxH
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 22, 2024
She was also there in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished. A picture of Bharti hugging saffron party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi during the demolition has been a part of controversy.
Both the Sadhvis, who were present at the time of the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya, were charged by the CBI along with several stalwarts, including former Union Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, and Vishnu Hari Dalmiya. All these leaders were acquitted by a special court in 2020.
The long-standing dispute between the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and the Babri Masjid was eventually settled on November 9, 2019, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a trust for building a Ram temple on the disputed site.
The five-judge panel, which included then-Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, granted the entire disputed land to the deity Ram Lalla and ordered the government to allocate an alternative five-acre tract to the Muslim side for the construction of a mosque.
The Ram Janmabhoomi movement gained traction after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) laid the foundation stone, or 'shilanyas', at the disputed site in 1989. A year later, then-BJP president Lal Krishna Advani started a rath yatra from Somnath, Gujarat, to build the temple at Ayodhya. Advani's yatra was cut short after he was arrested in Bihar on the orders of the then-Lalu Prasad Yadav government.
Earlier, Sadhvi Ritambhara had said that Lord Ram had given them courage to continue fighting for the temple.
"The credit goes to Lord Ram himself. He gave us the courage and capability to fight for it. Fortunate are those who were involved in the movement. It is huge when the Lord chooses people himself. I am not able to express the feeling in words," she said to the news agency ANI.
"This achievement is a result of the courage shown by the Hindu community. This is the result of the martyrdom of many. This is the result of the Hindus standing up to all the adversities. What is questionable is that we have struggled for over 500 years in order to establish our god in his own abode. However, the success we have achieved today is beyond words. Not only is the Ram Temple being built, but it is also the re-establishment of our pride," she added.
