For days altogether, it has been drilled into us (the pious and the not-so-devout) that the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Lalla idol in the garbhagriha of the still incomplete Ram Mandir is a great defilement. An act of impiety. Why? Because an idol can be installed supposedly only when work on the temple is entirely complete.
We are told the reason the Pran Pratishtha is happening now and not after the temple has a roof and a Kalash is because of PM Narendra Modi’s fear of electoral failure. That the Prime Minister, uncertain of his prospects in the Lok Sabha elections, wants to use the Ram Mandir as a political crutch to consolidate Hindu votes. And that, too, even if it means disrespecting ancient Hindu customs.
For this unimpaired insight, the defenders of the Hindu tradition must owe their gratitude to the venerable Uttarakhand Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand. Speaking from his exalted position as pontiff of all things pious in Hinduism, his eminence the Shankaracharya has opined that “a temple is the body of God, the temple’s peak represents God’s eyes and the ‘kalash’ represents the head. The flag on a temple is God’s hair”. “It is not right to instil life (pran pratishtha) in the body without its head or eyes. This goes against our scriptures. Hence, I will not be going there because if I go there, people will say scriptures have been violated in front of me.”
The Congress that wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to attend the Pran Pratishtha found the perfect excuse to bow out and target Modi. And it didn’t hold pull its punches.
But it now turns out that the Shankaracharya may have been selective with the facts, and if not, then perhaps he was at the very least ignorant of the Somnath precedent. That precedent resides in the well-thumbed pages of the annals of the Somnath Temple Trust. The document details that even this great monument to the restoration of Hindu dignity was built in stages. Consequentially, the Shivling’s Pran Pratishtha happened as soon as the garbhagriha was constructed. In fact, the temple was only fully completed 14 years later.
Let’s go over an excerpt that tellingly states, “On May 8, 1950, the foundation stone for Somnath temple was laid by Somnath trust chairman Jamsaheb Digvijaysinhji. The floor was made of stone and the sanctum sanctorum was constructed on top of it. On May 11, 1951 at 7:47 am, Shivalinga of Lord Somnath was consecrated by President Rajendra Prasad. Pandit Saraswati ji did Mahapooja. The Abhishek ceremony was done with water from 108 Teerths along with a 101 gun salute. The sky echoed with chants of ‘Jai Somnath’. Afterwards Somnath trust chairman, Maharaj Jamsaheb Digvijaysinhji guided the construction of the new temple. On May 13, 1965, construction of ‘Sabha mandap’ and ‘Shikhar’ was completed & Digvijaysinhji performed ‘Maharudra yagna’ at 12:30 in the afternoon, after consecrating the Kalash, Digvijaysinhji hoisted the holy Kausheya flag.”
Not leaving anything to chance this writer decided to look for corroboration and it came through the good offices of the chief architect of the Ram Mandir. Chandrakant Sompura confirmed the chronology of events at Somnath. He ought to know as his grandfather was the chief architect of the Somnath Temple.
The facts prompt many questions. Why did the Uttarakhand Shankaracharya oppose the Pran Pratishtha when no one ever complained that the installation of the Shivling in a yet-to-be completed Somnath temple was an act of impiety? Why did the Shankaracharya object to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), allegedly blurring the lines between politics and spirituality when his predecessor often conflated the two?
There are no simple answers, but it might have something to do with politics.
Indeed, the Shankaracharya’s predecessor Swamy Swaroopananda was not well disposed towards PM Narendra Modi. As a long-time Congress party sympathizer, he would often criticise the Modi government’s policies, even supporting candidates contesting against the BJP’s poll mascot.
When Swaroopananda passed away, his successor Avimukteshwaranand’s elevation to the position of the Peeth’s head pontiff was opposed by the Niranjani Akhada. In fact, the Akhada succeeded in getting a court mandated stay on Avimukteshwaranand’s ascension.
The Niranjani Akhada has been reported to have come out in support of PM Modi’s work.
Is Avimukteshwaranand, one dare says, getting his back on Modi now?
While the Uttarakhand Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand has clearly decided to risk his credibility, it’s rather fool hardy of the Congress to have followed suit.
Has the Congress party made up its mind to risk the goodwill of the Hindu community by using flimsy pretexts to not attend the Pran Pratishtha? And if so, is it because of its over dependence on minority votes?
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