Jai Ram! The ancient temple at Ayodhya is reawakened.
It’s birthplace of Lord Rama, great hero of the seminal epic poem, the Ramayana.
This is a tremendous occasion for India and Hindu culture. Millions of devotees are celebrating.
Certainly controversial, this ancient temple has been re-constructed after being destroyed by Mughal invaders hundreds of years ago. The mosque that they built on top of the ruins had to be moved.
Hinduism is an incredibly diverse cultural tradition and religion. None of my spiritual teachers were devotees of Lord Rama.
Nonetheless, I salute the reclamation of indigenous sacred sites from the ruins of colonial oppression.
May Lord Rama‘s example of equanimity, kindness, generosity, integrity, and respect for the Dharma guide us all to a peaceful future in which the world’s religions and spiritual traditions can live side-by-side peacefully.
ADDED NOTE: Please consider that news reports on this temple tend to be highly biased, regardless of their orientation.
But many media articles are conspicuously neglecting to mention that the demolished mosque was itself built on the ruins of the original Hindu temple. And the absolutely horrific bloodshed that accompanied the Mughal invasion and occupation, during which they destroyed and built mosques on many temples across India.
Those Hindu temples were not given options for rebuilding nearby.
“There are similar stories of prominent Hindu temples being demolished by Muslim rulers. For example, infamously, in 1528, a mosque was built on what was allegedly once a Hindu temple that marked the spot of the birth of the god Rama. Aurangzeb destroyed many temples as well, one of which was of particular note. What was probably the holiest temple is all of Hinduism, Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, was demolished on his orders in 1669, and a mosque built on its spot. The list goes on and encompasses much of India. Major Sikh and Buddhist sites were desecrated as well, notably Nalanda in 1193.”
The source of this article is considered to be highly reliable and minimally biased.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-diplomat-magazine/
Some claim that evidence of a Hindu temple under the Mosque is “shaky”. This is not true. The Mughals themselves bragged about the temples they destroyed and how many infidels they killed. I have personally visited a site in Delhi where the defaced stones of old Hindu temples were used to build a Mosque. It’s also telling that the original team that excavated the site in the 70’s didn’t announce their findings for fear of inflaming religious strife: