PM Modi hoists saffron flag atop Ayodhya Ram temple, says centuries-old wounds healing today
Ayodhya(UP) (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the "wounds and pain" of centuries are healing as a 500-year-old resolve is finally being fulfilled with the formal completion of the Ram temple here.
Modi made the remarks after ceremonially hoisting a saffron flag atop the Ram temple, an event marking the official completion of the shrine.
He was joined by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Calling the moment "epochal," the prime minister said Ayodhya was witnessing another historic milestone and added that "the entire country and the world are immersed in Ram."
Modi said the sacred flag would stand as a testament that "truth ultimately triumphs over falsehood," and congratulated Ram 'bhakts' along with all those who contributed to the construction of the temple.
Prime Minister Modi said, "Our Ram does not discriminate, and we too are moving forward with the same spirit," urging citizens to embrace inclusivity as the nation advances.
He said that by 2047, when India completes 100 years of Independence, the country must achieve the goal of becoming a developed nation, adding that "we will have to awaken the Ram within us" to realise this vision.
Modi stressed the need to take pride in India's civilisational heritage and "break free from the mentality of slavery," calling for a decisive effort over the next 10 years to shed inherited inferiority complexes.
He said the influence of Macaulay's legacy persisted long after Independence, asserting that India must rid itself of this mindset to progress.
Rejecting what he termed a "distortion" that democracy was borrowed from abroad, Modi said, "India is the birthplace of democracy and it is embedded in our DNA."
According to officials, the flag hoisting marked the formal completion of the Ram temple complex, nearly six years after the Supreme Court's landmark 2019 verdict that allotted the entire 2.77-acre disputed site for the Ram Mandir.
According to an official statement, the saffron flag measuring 22 feet x 11 feet is made of parachute-grade cloth with a thick nylon hoisting rope, and is mounted atop a 161-foot spire.
The flag bears symbols of the Sun, representing Lord Ram's Surya Vansh, Om, and the Kovidara tree, described as the state tree of Ram Rajya.
Temple officials said the idol of Ram Lalla is located in the 'Garbhagriha' on the ground floor, a climb of 32 steps from the Singh Dwar on the eastern side.
The complex includes five mandaps - Nritya, Rang, Sabha, Prarthana and Kirtan
and features restored heritage structures such as the ancient Shiv Mandir at Kuber Tila and the historic Sita Koop.
The Ram temple project began after the Supreme Court's unanimous judgment dated November 9, 2019.
Following the ruling, the Centre constituted the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, announced by Prime Minister Modi on February 5, 2020.
The foundation stone for the temple was laid on August 5, 2020, and the 'Pran Pratishtha' of the Ram Lalla idol took place on January 22, 2022.
The Ram Darbar was opened to devotees on June 14, 2025.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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