Uma Bharti & Sadhvi Rithambhara, who participated in Ram temple movement, break down at consecration event

Amidst the grand consecration ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in the Uttar Pradesh's temple town, an emotional moment was witnessed after 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 embraced with teary eyes.

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Celebrating the happiness and joy on the long-awaited event that took place today, both the sadhvis congratulated each other. The two fought back tears, their eyes reflecting how far they, and their political mission, had come.

For the BJP leader, who was at the forefront of the temple movement, the clock turned backwards. “I am in front of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, we are waiting for Ram Lalla,” Bharti said posted on X along with a photograph, minutes before PM Narendra Modi climbed the stairs of the grand temple for the 'pran pratistha' rituals.

She was in temple town too on December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished. A photograph of Bharti hugging saffron party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi during the demolition has been a part of controversy.

Both the saadhvis, who were present at the time of 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 the year 2020.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Temple- Babri Masjid dispute, going on since ages was finally settled on November 9, 2019, when the Supreme Court gave its decision in favour of the construction of a grand Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site.

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The five-judge bench, comprising then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi granted the entire disputed land to the deity Ram Lalla and ordered the government to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Muslim side to build a mosque.

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement intensified after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad laid the foundation stone or ‘shilanyas’ at the disputed site in 1989. A year later, then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani embarked on a rath yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to build the temple in Ayodhya. His yatra was cut short after Advani was arrested in Bihar on the orders of then Lalu Prasad government.

Earlier, Sadhvi Ritambhara had said that Lord Ram had given them courage to carry on the fight for the temple

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"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 had said to 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.

Meanwhile, PM Modi along with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Anandiben Patel, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and Chairman of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das participated in pran pratishtha ceremony.

In most sacred 84 seconds of the 48-minute ‘Abhijeet muhurat’ from 12:29:03pm to 12.30:35pm, he symbolically opened the eyes of the idol of Lord Ram Lalla. With this, the week-long rituals of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla which began on January 16 is completed.

(With inputs from ANI)