“Jai Shri Ram!”
“Jai Jai Shri Ram!”
ALL day in Ayodhya, the cry surfaces in a city abuzz with electric drills and bulldozers as much as katha and kirtans. Ayodhya is freighted with the fervour, the tension, the anticipation, the ecstasy, of the return of Ram, now but the blink of an eye away. The coalescing belief among millions of Hindus from Delhi to Denver is that a new era in the history of Indian civilisation is to spring forth here on 22 January. If so, then these hazy sunless days of early January 2024 must be the last breaths of a godless age, clouded by ideas and values soon to be discarded because not authentically Indian.
Therefore, Jai Shri Ram! To spur our nation towards a second Independence day, towards Ram rajya, to its destiny as Vishwaguru, Jai Shri Ram! It is the rallying call of the public along the 2-kilometre-long Ram Janmabhoomi Path leading from the main road, Ram Path, to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex. It erupts with particular intensity among devotees as they jostle and sway on the narrow steps leading up to the Hanuman Garhi temple a few hundred metres away. It is chanted more gently after the moving morning aarti, offered to idols of Ram and Sita swaying gently on a swing, in the courtyard of the hundred-year-old Amava Ram Temple, where people gather in long rows at lunchtime, a generous lunch of rice, dal, pooris, sabji and kheer provided for free by the temple’s Ram Rasoi. The temple has a striking crest of a giant bow, and inside, its own glass-walled shrine to Ram lalla, installed in the immediate wake of the Supreme Court judgement of 2019.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 11, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 11, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
My Secular Mentor
A rare psychologist of Indian culture, Sudhir Kakar leaves behind seminal works that will have relevance for many generations
Battle of the Bahubalis
Gangsters in Bihar no longer enjoy the kind of dominance that they did in the 90s, but that has not kept them away from politics
Memories of Riots
Have frequent communal tensions changed the social fabric of Bihar?
Didi's Achilles Heel
Mamata Banerjee stays the course but her party, plagued by corruption charges, spins out of control
Memory Metamorphosis
What happened on March 14, 2007 in Nandigram? People still ask this question as they take part in the dance of democracy
Minority Report
He has not lost the Dhubri seat in Assam since 2009. Now he is fighting for political survival as Bengali Muslims look to favour the Congress
THE POWER OF PURPOSE
Doing good is good business as it transcends bottom lines and impacts lives positively, yielding profits that go beyond numbers.
CURRENT FARMING METHODS ARE EXACERBATING CLIMATE CHANGE
Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) project is supporting transition of 850,000 farmers covering 377,801 hectares of land and operating in 3730 villages. \"Natural farming is in harmony with nature. It is a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants\", says Mr. T Vijay Kumar, a retired IAS officer, who is the Executive Vice Chairman of Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, a non-profit organization set up by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2014. Since 2016, this platform has been utilized to integrate and promote APCNF activities, aimed at fostering the overall development and empowerment of farmers. Excerpts from an interview with Mr T Vijay Kumar:
IN PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY
Harshavardhana Gourineni, Executive Director, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd, in an interview shares how through its products and operations the company is helping reduce carbon footprints and meet SDGs. Excerpts:
COOLING NO MORE A LUXURY, BUT A NECESSITY
With the rise in demand of air conditioners due to heat stress, sustainable air conditioning is the way forward to bring relief to people as well as manage emissions