Politics and academic semantics over the Sri Ramjanmabhumi dispute seem to have clouded the issue, with the Left-liberal intelligentsia even questioning the historicity of Lord Ram. Sri Ramjanmabhumi: Archaeology, Architecture and Politics is an in-depth exploration of the saga, political and legal spinoff, and archaeological findings in the context of Ayodhya’s ethos. It delineates the metaphysics underlying the tradition of Ram bhakti; its relevance from subaltern, Shakti and tantric perspectives; and cites Tulsidas’s Ram Charit Manas and other texts to suggest that Ram and Sita returned together to Ayodhya.
Writer and journalist Anuradha Dutt combines past reportage with research and interactions with key personae to unearth significant events underlying the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Annals reveal 79 struggles to gain control of the site; and that the Mughal Shah Alam and Ameer Ali, a leader of the 1857 insurrection, were about to restore the site to Hindus when the former died and the latter was hanged by the British.
She interviews Devaraha Hans Baba, associated with the temple movement; VHP’s sants; Congress ally Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati; a Nirmohi Akhada mahant and Ayodhya historian; Hashim Ansari, oldest Muslim litigant; B B Lal and K N Dikshit who supervised ‘Archaeology of the Ramayan Sites’ project; and B R Mani of the 2003 ASI team that found temples’ remains underlying the mosque. An input from team member Atiq R Siddiqui confirms remains of large structures preceding the mosque and Mother Goddess images and Indic relics.
References to King Vikramaditya of Ujjain having built Sri Ramjanmabhumi temple at Ramkot in Ayodhya are cited, as are Mughal rulers Humayun and Akbar agreeing to resume worship at the usurped site. The narrative highlights Shia Muslims’ absence from the dispute, and details litigation by Sunni Central Waqf Board. Ayodhya region’s Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb, hinging on Hindu-Muslim reciprocity, and syncretic legacy of Nawabs of Oudh are detailed.
It traces the trajectory for the spread of Islam via usurpation of pagan pilgrimages, and even of kindred Semitic faiths Judaism and Christianity, signifying Islam’s ascendancy. Conquests in the Indian subcontinent followed the same course, warlords’ incursions facilitated by self-seeking natives. Realpolitiks yoked to jihad served to expand the dominion of Islam. Current manoeuvres to regain usurped sites are analysed in terms of the Hindutva riposte to Semitic proselytisation over many centuries. There are 16 colour pictures.