Modi’s Temple Tour Evoked Faith and Lord Rama’s Life

From January 12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited and paid obeisance at several important Hindu shrines ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram Mandir. This also coincided with the strict anusthan (fast) comprising coconut water and occasional glasses of warm water.

Modi undertook an 11 day sacred ceremony leading to the consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla at the Auodhya Dham temple on January 22. An official statement said Modi initiated the ritual from Nashik Dham – Panchavati where Lord Ram spent significant time according to the accounts of life and times recounted in the Ramayana.

The Prime Minister prayed and worshiped at Kala Ram Mandir in Nashik in Maharashtra. He performed rituals at the Shri Ram Kund. “The ‘Yudh Kanda’ section of the Ramayana, which portrays Lord Rama’s triumphant homecoming to Ayodhya, was recited to the Prime Minister in Marathi and PM also heard the verses from the Bhavarth Ramayanawritten in Marathi by Sant Eknath,” said the statement. The invocation of the Panchvati stay and the compositions of Eknath are significant given the Bhakti saint’s role in revival and promotion of indigenous cultural and religious identity.

On January 16 Modi visited Veerbhadra Temple in Lepakshi, Puttaparthi, in Andhra Pradesh. Prime Minister listened to the Ranganatha Ramayana in Telugu and witnessed a depiction of the Jatayu story through than ancient shadow puppetry form called Tholu Bommalata.

Continuing his tour of the south, Modi went to Shree Ramaswami temple in Thriprayar in Kerala on January 17. He performed darshan and puja and saw a cultural performance. He then felicitated artists and batuks.

On January 20 the Prime Minster went to the shrine of Sri Ranganathaswamy in Tamil Nadu. “He heard the poetic rendition of the Kamba Ramayana at the holy site where the illustrious Kamban first unveiled his masterpiece,” said the official statement.

After puja at Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Modi next went to the holy abode of Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. He prayed to the Lord, who is revered as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. He also joined a Bhajan Sandhya or an evening of religious recitals where many spiritual songs were sung at the temple premises.

At the end of his southern journey Modi prayed at Kothandaramaswamy Temple at Dhanushkodi. There he also visited Arichal Munai, said to be the place from where the Ram Setu to Sri Lanka was built.

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Rajeev Deshpande

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