Ahead of Ram temple opening, symbolism and subtle messaging from Ayodhya palpable

Meera Majhi, the OBC woman whose house in Ayodhya Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited and had tea on December 30, has placed the ‘Modi cup’ among the idols of the deities she worships daily.

“He is god-like to us and so everything that he touched has acquired a godly status. He is our god for we got house, power supply, medical facilities all because of him and that’s why the cup in which he had tea has special meaning for us,” said Meera on the phone from Ayodhya.

The fact that Modi’s visit to her place and his sending gifts to her afterwards has made Meera a local celebrity of sorts in Lord Ram’s abode is not coincidental.

Modi’s visit to the riverine community woman, who happens to be the 100 millionth beneficiary of the Ujjwala yojana, served two purposes: highlight the BJP’s focus on beneficiaries, mainly the poor, and provide powerful symbolism to OBCs, who, along with Dalits, have been the mainstays of the party’s phenomenal wins since 2014.

Also read: Watch: Varanasi students make 5-feet-long diya for Ram temple ‘Pran-Prathistha’ ceremony

Such symbolism is likely to get a further boost after the Ram temple inauguration on January 22 as Modi could travel to Shringverpur near Prayagraj to unveil the statue of Lord Ram hugging Nishadraj.

“We have invited the PM and are hopeful that he will surely take out time to unveil the statues that depicts the kind of closeness Nishads shared with Lord Ram,” said Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad, whose Nishad party is a BJP ally.

According to pamphlets that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) affiliate Vishwa Hindu Parishad is getting distributed to the people ahead of the consecration ceremony at Ram temple, temples of sage Valmiki, Nishadraj and Shabri– all Hindu icons from humble, socially disadvantaged Dalit and OBC backgrounds - would come up too on the same Janmabhoomi campus where Ram Lalla’s temple will be thrown open to devotees.

A postage stamp of Nishadraj and Mata Shabri, both of whom find mention in the Ramayana, too will be released.

While Nishadraj finds mention in the Hindu epic as the riverine community king who helped Lord Ram cross the river on his boat during his exile, Mata Shabri, according to some scriptures of the time, was a woman from the socially disadvantaged or the lower caste of the times and offered fruits to Lord Ram after tasting them.

Such symbolism is likely to have its own meaning.

“These aren’t stories of today as they travelled across generations. So, the BJP-RSS could well ask critics who throw the untouchability theory to slam Hinduism about how the Lord’s message of accepting pre-tasted fruits from Mata Shabri or taking help from Nishads to cross the river could be missed? It will be hard to find fault with such messaging that is coming from Ayodhya,” said Professor Pawan Sharma from Meerut University.

A government-sponsored community feast initiative in Ayodhya has been named after ‘Mata Shabri’ while a night shelter has been named after Nishadraj, revealing the outreach to OBCs and Dalits ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

That the Hindutva foot soldiers from these caste groups were at the forefront of the Ram Mandir agitation merely helps the BJP further in crafting the RSS-sponsored narrative of Hindu unity in a way that helps strike an emotive chord with the majority.

On the eve of Modi’s Ayodhya visit on December 30, it was announced that the international airport would be named after ‘Maharishi Valmiki’, a famous sage who hailed from a marginalised community and is best remembered for penning the Ramayana.

“That’s no secret that we favour Hindu unity,” an RSS leader said when asked about the messaging that the Sangh has sought to give through its vigorous backing of ‘samrasta (social harmony)’, a popular word in most RSS programmes and initiatives and co-opted by the BJP.