Somnath temple, where it all began, gets set to share Ayodhya's joy

Gujarat's famous Somnath temple, located in Prabhas Patan, Veraval, has distinct links to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

For one, there's a Ram temple near Triveni Sangam constructed by the Somnath temple trust in 2017, when the Ram-Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid trial was still on in the courts. However, that is not all.

For another, the otherwise sleepy town of Prabhas Patan is etched in the political history of the country due to events that began in 1990.

Political history of Prabha Patan

In 1990, it was from Prabhas Patan that BJP patriarch LK Advani started the Rath Yatra to mobilise public support for a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, an event that changed the face of Gujarat and the nation’s politics forever.

“It is believed, and confirmed by archaeological evidence, that there was a pre-existing temple at Ayodhya. It is but natural that the yatra begins from here, Somnath,” said Advani in a speech made in 1990 ahead of his yatra.

Three decades later

Three decades later, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets set to lead the consecration of the Ram Mandir, Gujarat is in a frenzy over an event unfolding more than 1,000 km away, in Ayodhya.

“In the last six decades, if one movement is to be credited with fundamentally altering Gujarat’s socio-political polemics, it has to be the campaign for Ram Mandir,” pointed out Manishi Jani, a Gujarat-based political analyst.

“The Ram temple movement started in Gujarat largely through the efforts of the VHP. In the early 1980s, the campaign was to write letters to the Union government to open the locks of the Ram temple. For the BJP this was a trying time in Gujarat, when it was reduced to just two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 and its presence was limited to urban areas. Later, when the Bajrang Dal was created in 1985, the outfit carried out aggressive campaigns like Trishul Diksha and right-wing politics soon penetrated the rural landscape of the state. By 1989, the BJP had won 12 Lok Sabha seats alongwith its coalition partner, the Janata Dal,” added Jani.

Massive response

Further, he continued, “In 1990, Advani’s Rath Yatra with the late Pramod Mahajan and Modi by his side, generated a massive response. By 1991, the BJP bagged 20 Lok Sabha seats. The 1991 parliamentary polls were significant as it marked the arrival of BJP in the state politics without the help of any coalition. After the 1992 Babri mosque demolition, kar sevaks who returned home were celebrated by the state BJP leaders."

By 1995, BJP won 121 seats in the state assembly election, defeating the Chimanbhai Patel-led Congress-JD coalition government. Since then, Gujarat has not elected any other party to power, emphasised Jani.

Grand celebrations

Now, as Ayodhya is decked in colourful lights and flowers ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir, Somnath temple is set to hold its own grand celebration.

The temple has sent a commemorative letter of Ram Naam Lekhan Yajna in silver and gold fonts to the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Shetra Trust in Ayodhya.

This letter stems from a campaign kicked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 30, 2023. On that day, Modi, who is also the chairman of the Somnath temple’s trust, had launched the ‘Ram Naam Mantra Lekhan Yagna’, a campaign under which devotees inscribe the name of Lord Ram in pothis (notebooks) at the Ram temple located in the precincts of the Somnath temple.

“In just 80 days, devotees from all over the country who visited Somnath Mandir wrote more than 3.5 crore Ram Naam mantra. Yesterday, a commemorative letter of Somnath to Ayodhya Ram Naam Lekhan Yajna in silver and gold fonts was handed over to the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Shetra Trust in Ayodhya,” said Somnath temple's primary priest.

“Under this campaign, Ram Naam was written in more than 11 languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Braille, Russian, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and Odia. The temple trust had planned to send 1 crore 25 lakh Ram Naam mantras from Somnath to Ayodhya. However, we ended up getting 3.5 crore written Ram Naam mantras,” he added.

State holiday

The Gujarat government has declared a half-day at all government offices and educational institutions across the state on January 22.

To celebrate the occasion, the Surat Diamond Association (SDA) has announced a holiday on Monday across the city. Besides, the SDA run Arogya Samiti hospital in the diamond hub of Varachha has announced free deliveries for all pregnant women on January 22.

Manek Chowk Choksi Mahajan, Ratan Pol Sona Chandi Dagina Mahajan and the Ahmedabad Electrical Merchants and Contractors’ Association, the three major wholesale market in Ahmedabad have declared a holiday, too.

While some associations, like Madhupura Spice Merchants Market, and the Maskati Cloth Merchants Association plan to celebrate the consecration by decorating their shops and lighting diyas.