By: Jyoti Malhotra
When 12 hours, 43 minutes, and 42 seconds flashed on the screen clock that was pounding down a countdown in Ayodhya Sunday night, Bollywood star and member of Parliament Hema Malini threw back her head slightly and laughed coquettishly as Rahul Kanwal, a journalist, praised her dance performance in honor of the Hindu god Rama. Malini has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has ruled India for the past 10 years, so it was understandable she participate in the festivities that have been rising fever-pitch these last several days, all of them culminating today at 12:20 pm when the consecration of a new idol of Lord Ram in his brand, new temple takes place in Ayodhya.
Like Malini, scores of other celebrities, not paid-up members of the BJP but clearly believers, have shown up in this temple town in north India, about 300 km from Delhi. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan is believed to have bought – or gifted – land in Ayodhya; another superstar, Kangana Ranaut, has been seen sweeping the street in front of another key temple, complete with sunglasses and silk sari. The Tamil film mega-star Rajnikanth has arrived.
Cricketers and businessmen, school-children and politicians and holy men and thousands of ordinary folk who just want to be part of the event even if they can’t get close to the temple because of security reasons – this morning in Ayodhya is a watershed moment for India’s history as well as democracy. The starring role at the consecration should have been the priests who carried out the ceremony – instead, it will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has done more than anyone in India today to leverage the devotion of millions of Hindus towards their god, and channeled this devotion towards a project in which religion and politics have mixed seamlessly to arrive at this special moment in history…
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