Rama’s exile

According to the tradition Bhagwan Rama, along with his wife Mata Sita and his brother Bhagwan Lakshamana, was exiled (vanvasa) for 14 years. That exile, however, was in the Treta Yuga, third of the four Yugas – Satya, Treta, Dwapar, and Kali. The current exile we are talking about started almost 490 years ago in 1528 CE.

Zahir ud-Din Babur was the founder (1526 CE) of the Mughal dynasty in India. Two years after he established the Mughal Empire, he ordered a large mosque (called Babari Masjid) built in the holy city of Ayodhya by destroying the existing Bhagwan Rama temple. Situated on the bank of the Saryu River, Ayodhya is considered the birthplace of Bhagwan Rama, one of the most revered gods of the billion strong Hindus around the world.

Destruction of Hindu temples is the hallmark of the Islamic invasion of India. Several thousand temples were destroyed and desectred. Several thousand more moorties were vandalized and dismembered. In a two volume book Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them, authors Sita Ram Goel, Arun Shourie, Harsh Narain, Jay Dubashi, and Ram Swarup painstakingly list thousands of temples destroyed by the Islamic rulers. One of the glaring examples of this mindless destruction is in the southern outskirts of the capital city of Dilli. Situated in the Qutb Minar complex, the Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque was built after destroying more than two dozen Jain temples. The Indian landscape is littered with such examples of destruction and desecration inflicting acute transgenerational trauma among Indians. A fact that there does not exist any large Hindu temple more than a century or so old in the vicinity of the Indian capital city of Dilli bears testimony to that trauma.

The fact that the Babri Masjid was built at the site of an existing temple is borne out of archaeological evidence. Some of this evidence was collected during the archaeological exploration done under the supervision of the Indian court system. In her book Rama and Ayodhya, historian Meenakshi Jain has provided meticulous historical and literary evidence relating to Bhagwana Rama and the temple at Ayodhya.

Indic tradition has been an oral tradition and most of its intellectual capital as well as its itihasa has been preserved primarily due to it. Several mnemonic techniques were developed to preserve the Vedic texts. These texts had several pathas (recitation styles). In addition several other methods involving intonation, meter, etc. were also used. These methods are in use even today. Itihasa, on the other hand, was preserved through lok katha, natya, and many other art forms. Maharhshi Valmiki himself mentions in the Ramayana that Rama’s story was recited orally even by Rama’s sons. There are at least 25 Rama stories in Sanskrit alone. But of course the Valmiki Ramayana is the oldest and most authoritative.

We find many Ramayana scenes carved on the many temple structures. One of the oldest one is from 2nd century BCE seal. On that Mata Sita is shown throwing down her jewelry after being kidnapped by Ravana. A 3rd century CE seal from Kashmir has Ram Siya written on it in Brahmi script. Jain mentions several literary evidences including in Persian, Arabic, and Urdu. Abu Fazl, the official historian of Akbar and the author of Akbarnama, mentions Ayodhya as the birthplace of Rama and that Ram Navami was being celebrated in Ayodhya with a lot of pomp.

According references cited by Jain, Hindus had free access to the Masjid where they could freely pray at the Ram Chabutara, Sita Ki Rasoi, etc all the way until 1855. The dispute that started a year or so later is still unsettled. The Allahabad High Court in 2003 asked the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the site to see if there was a temple beneath the Babri Masjid. This was to be done under court supervision. After examining all the evidence, the Allahabad High Court gave the space under the central dome to the temple group.

The dispute over the Ram Janm Bhoomi site could have been settled amicably much earlier but for the fraudulatory tactics of India’s Marxist historians. In their zeal to enhance their secular credentials and secure invitations to international seminars and other favors, the left historians have gone on to deny even the centrality of Rama and Valmiki’s Ramayana. However, the prevalence of Rama Katha in Indian tradition is undeniable.

The most astonishing aspect of the Allahabad High Court litigation is the testimonials of the expert historians representing Sunni Central Wakf Board. One such historian was Suvira Jaiswal, a history professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In her testimony, she claimed to be an ‘expert in Ancient History’ who was testifying in the court ‘without any probe’ or on the basis of her expert ‘knowledge’ in the field. She had not ‘read Baburnama either but she felt competent giving her ‘opinion’.

As expected, the case ended up in the Supreme Court of India (SCI). After years of dilly dallying, the SCI finally decided to take up the case. India’s highest court decided to hear the argument on a daily basis. Amidst many twists and turns the SCI heard the closing argument last month and finally the decision is expected any day.

Since the Allahabad High Court has already ruled on this issue and nothing has changed evidence wise since its ruling there is a high chance that the SCI will not overturn the Allahabad High Court’s decision. If that happens, it will end the centuries long exile of Ram Lalla and he will finally return to his home in all his glory.