RAM AND THE ‘NAVNIRMAN’ OF AYODHYA
On August 5, residents of Ayodhya, their excitement clearly brimming over and not to be restrained by anything as mundane as physical distancing in the time of a pandemic, gathered at the mythical Ram ki Paidi ghats in the evening. There, they lit some 350,000 diyas, in a new ‘deepotsav’ to mark the beginning of the construction of the Ram temple.
After all, a “new chapter in India’s history” was beginning, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said earlier in the day after performing the and laying the foundation stone for the temple. A 22.6 kg brick of pure silver was used to consecrate the occasion. The constraints imposed by the pandemic were visible here, though; PM Modi
