BHARATA BHARATI

Anil Mishra, a member of the temple trust and his wife, have been performing the religious duties as yajman. However, people involved with the rituals have spoken in contradictory voices about whether Modi or Mishra will be the yajman on January 22. – Abhik Deb

In the lead-up to the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, there is confusion about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the yajman—the ceremonial host on whose behalf the prayers are offered.

Since January 16, when the week-long rituals for the consecration started, Anil Mishra, a member of the temple trust and his wife, have been performing the religious duties as yajman. However, people involved with the rituals, including the priests who will oversee the consecration and the chief of the temple trust, have spoken in contradictory voices about whether Modi or Mishra will be the yajman on January 22.

The matter is significant as Modi was criticised for being the yajman at the foundation laying ceremony of the temple in August 2020, despite being the prime minister of a secular country. More recently, Opposition parties and even a section of Hindutva supporters have accused the prime minister of politicising the temple inauguration.

The yajman conundrum

On Wednesday, Laxmikant Dixit, the head priest for the ceremony on January 22, told reporters that Modi will be performing the “main rituals”.

“Modi ji won’t be available for all the days [of the rituals], so we have to give the responsibility to someone or the other,” he said. When asked who the mukhya yajman, or main host would be, Dixit said it will be Modi.

Dixit’s comments, however, differ from what Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust overlooking the construction of the temple, has said. On December 17, Rai told a news channel that Modi will not be the yajman because the designated person would have to carry out rituals for eight days.

On January 15, at a press conference, Rai reiterated this position. A reporter asked him, “Since the prime minister is the mukhya yajman, what are the preparations for the rituals that he needs to follow from [January] 16t?”

Rai replied: “I have said that the prime minister and sarsanghchalak [RSS Chief] will grace us with their presence. You should also say the same.”

Responding to another question at the same press conference, Rai said: “The person who’s the yajman on the first day [of rituals] will continue to be the yajman till the 22nd. So we are trying to find someone who could go through that rigour.”

A day after the press conference, Mishra, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the temple trust, was made the yajman and he started performing the rituals along with his wife, Usha Mishra.

On January 16, Ganeshwar Shastri, another priest who will be supervising the consecration ceremony along with Laxmikant Dixit, told Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar that the “Brahmin couple, the Mishras” will be the yajman who will carry out all the rituals. “Along with him, Modi ji and others will also be present,” Shastri said in a video interview.

In a text article accompanying the video, Dainik Bhaskar cited both Shastri and Dixit as saying that Mishra will be the “mukhya yajman” or main host, while Modi will be the “pratikatmak yajman”, or symbolic host. The priests also told the newspaper that the yajman needs to be a grihasth or family man.

However, just a day later, Dixit told reporters that Modi will be the main host and the rituals before January 22 were being carried out by Mishra as the prime minister was not available for the entire week leading up to the consecration.

Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust overlooking the construction of the temple, told Scroll that the Hindu scriptures allow a person to stand in as yajman in the absence of the mukhya yajman, but in that case, the main host would also need to perform certain rituals before being allowed to sit for the consecration ceremony.

Modi will not be performing these rituals and hence will not be the mukhya yajman, said Das, who has been the chief priest worshipping the deity Ram Lalla in Ayodhya since the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.

“Every yajman needs to perform the prayaschit [religious act performed to get rid of sins] and sankalp [requesting permission to carry out worship] rituals,” Das said. “The yajman also needs to be a grihasth [a person with a family household]. Mishra ji has been chosen since he fulfils all these conditions.”

Das added that Modi will also be part of the consecration ceremony but will only uncover the eyes of the Ram idol and apply kohl on the eyes after the consecration. All other rituals will be performed by Mishra, he said.

On how Modi was allowed to be the yajman in 2020, Das said that rituals like prayaschit and sankalp are not required to be performed for a foundation laying ceremony.

Media confusion

The many versions of those involved with the ceremony has led to contradictory news reports. On January 17, The Indian Express reported, citing Dixit’s son, that Mishra will be the “pradhan yajman”. The same newspaper, on January 18, quoted Dixit telling news agency PTI, that Modi will be the “main yajman“. – Scroll, 19 January 2024

› Abhik Deb is a senior reporter for Scroll Media in Noida, UP.

Filed under: ayodhya, india | Tagged: anil mishra, narendra modi, prana pratishtha, ram temple ayodhya, ritual host, yajman |