In the name of Ram: Uttar Pradesh Government’s initiatives to appropriate his identity

Amid the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, likely to be completed by January 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Uttar Pradesh government is taking various other initiatives to establish the identity of Ram in different parts of the State. Steps are being taken to generate a religious tourism circuit and also link parts of the Hindu god’s life from the Ramayana to social legends

Amid the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, likely to be completed by January 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Uttar Pradesh Government is taking various other initiatives to establish the identity of Ram in different parts of the State. Steps are being taken to generate a religious tourism circuit and also link parts of the Hindu god’s life from the Ramayana to social legends.   

Last week the district magistrate of Prayagraj, Sanjay Kumar Khatri, inspected Shringverpur Dham, 45 km from the city, and described as the capital of the Nishad Kingdom. This is believed to be the meeting ground of Ram, who the Hindus believe is an avatar of Vishnu, and Nishadraj Guha, the king of the Nishads, a community of boat-people. 

The Uttar Pradesh Government plans to develop the place as a religious and cultural centre that will tell the story of the two kings, with Guha washing the feet of Ram with Ganga water. Construction across three acres will be done by the Uttar Pradesh Projects Corporation Limited at the cost of ₹20 crore. An auditorium and Sri Ram library containing religious texts, is also to be built on the proposed site. 

Statues of Ram and Guha will also to be installed in the neighbouring park named after Nishadraj. Of late there has been an attempt at uniting the OBC into one vote bank. 

“It is well known that the BJP uses such symbolic themes to connect Ram with OBC groups. These steps are not only of cultural meaning but also have social and political motives,” said Ram Dutt Tripathi, a political analyst based in Lucknow. 

Nishadraj Jayanti is observed on a large scale in April, on the fifth day of the Shukla Paksha of the Chaitra month (waxing phase of the moon in the Chaitra month) as per the Hindu calendar, by the Nishad community across Uttar Pradesh and the Hindi belt. Processions and social programmes are held, which witness attendance of leaders across political parties. The State Government’s cultural department organises programmes at Shringverpur, highlighting Ram’s association with Nishadraj. The ruling BJP and its allies in Uttar Pradesh have also held gatherings on Nishadraj Jayanti. 

“There is a development of consciousness among the Nishad community through these grand Nishadraj Jayanti celebrations. In the last one decade, an increase in such social gatherings is seen on this day. The idea is to uplift the community,” said Harishchandra Kewat, who runs a Nishad social forum in Varanasi.