Kumbh Mela 2019: As akharas raise shrill demand for Ram Temple in Ayodhya, BJP has little time to act ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Prayagraj: The biggest congregation of saints began early Tuesday at Sangam with holy dip and a vow for construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The reiteration from Sant Samaj came amid the legal battle at the Supreme Court that is set to decide on the schedule of hearing on Ayodhya title dispute on 29 January. [caption id=“attachment_5898371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A devotee prays after taking a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj on 14 January, 2019. Reuters/Danish Siddiqui[/caption] The flavour of Kumbh spiced with slogans and posters was palpable at the ground zero of ‘Akharas’. For Swami Giriraj Giriji and Adwait Bharti the sky is no more clouded and seers gathered from across the country at Kumbh are hoping for a new dawn. “This is the moment of ‘Satchitananda’ tremendously beautiful for saints and people. We believe that existence has brought this government in power both in the state and at the Centre to ensure that the long-standing demand for the abode of Lord Ram is finally a reality. This moment is awakening out of sleep for Hinduism,” the ascetics said during the discussion at dhuni. To awaken the consciousness of followers for glimpses of God, truth, nirvana and Brahma more than 100 massive tents have been raised by the Akharas and religious organisations for tales of Ram and Bhagwat for the next 50 days. In each tent at sectors 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 more than 12,000 people can be accommodated. Juna Akahara’s tent for seekers is the largest in the Kumbh area while another camp at sector 16 by Swami Jagannath Trust can accommodate more than 8,000 people. Since Kumbh celebration is the highest growth of consciousness, the Akharas do not shy away from taking up political issues saying politics and religion complement each other and priests and politicians should work together to unite the fragmented society. Although, Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who was anointed ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ by Sripanchayati Niranjani Akhara refused to speak on Ram Temple saying the matter is in the court. However, Uma Giri from Juna Akhara made it clear there is no compromise on the issue and every institution in the country must support this endeavour. Hoardings of Jagadguru Ramanandacharya is almost everywhere in Kumbh country areas demanding the government to immediately start the work on Ram Temple. There are definitely murmurs within the Akharas that political leadership needs to be reminded time and again about the issues concerning Sant Samaj. One of the issues taken up by the saints was demolition of temples in the Hindi heartland to make way for roads and other development projects. A seer from Avahan Akhara said recently a temple was demolished making several ascetics homeless but the administration has not been able to rehabilitate the temple properties.