NEW DELHI: According to legend Sita was the daughter of King Janak from Nepal and got married to Lord Ram of Ayodhya. Every year Janakpur not just celebrates the birth of Lord Ram but also the wedding anniversary of Ram and Sita. Keeping the deep religious and cultural bond that these two states share, Nepal is in the process of sending two large Shilas (stones) from the banks of the Gandaki river to Ayodhya which will be used to make idols of Ram and Sita.
"We have a bond with Ayodhya which goes back in time – it is centuries old. And it is for the same reason that we put a proposal of sending these shilas and also a Dhanush (which we will make subsequently). The two shilas are 18 tons and 12 tons in weight approximately. We have done a shilapujan of these stones and will be bringing them to Ayodhya on February 1st," former deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Bimalendra Nidhi told The New Indian Express. He is a senior leader of the Nepali Congress and was also the former Home Minister.
Nidhi is the man behind this entire initiative and has been in touch with the authorities in Ayodhya and Delhi for over two years now to take this forward.
"In 2020 during the anniversary celebrations of Ram and Sita in Janakpur – the then Indian Ambassador (Manjeev Puri) was also invited and that’s when we first spoke about strengthening the cultural ties between the two nations and proposed sending a Dhanush (bow) that was symbolic of the wedding of Lord Ram. Subsequently, we proposed sending shilas for idols of the two deities," he added.
In 2022 (between July and August) Nidhi says he had meetings with the head mahant of Ram Janambhoomi trust Champat Rai and subsequently with NripendraMisra who heads the Nirvan Samiti of the temple trust and also India’s foreign secretary who was the former Ambassador of India to Nepal.
"In December 2022 we got a clearance from the government of Nepal to send two shilas and a Dhanush to India. On January 15th we did a shilapujan. These two shilas will now be loaded on a truck and first sent to Janakpur for people to do darshan and then on January 30th, it would leave for Ayodhya. We expect it to reach Ayodhya on February 1st, and I will be there to personally hand it over," Nidhi added.
Nidhi says that they will later make an ashtadathu Dhanush too for Ayodhya that would last for at least 1000 years. Nepal-India ties will be further strengthened not just culturally but also religiously and diplomatically.