‘Wounds of centuries healing today': PM Modi hoists flag atop 191-foot-high Ram temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hoisted a saffron flag atop the 191-foot-high 'shikhara' of the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, marking marking formal completion of its construction.

"Wounds and pain of centuries are healing today," he said , adding, "A 500-year-old resolve is being fulfilled."  The PM said, "Ayodhya is witnessing another epochal event in its history. The entire country and the globe is immersed in Ram."

"This sacred flag will stand as a testament that truth ultimately triumphs over falsehood. Our Ram doesn't discriminate and we too are moving forward with the same spirit," he said.

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The Prime Minister said, "By 2047, when we complete 100 years of India's Independence, we will have to ensure a developed India. Our goal should be to free India from mentality of slavery in next 10 years."

He said what Lord Macaulay envisioned was very extensive, adding that "we gained Independence but did not free ourselves from sense of inferiority".

Macaulay was a British politician who shaped modern Indian education by advocating English as the medium of instruction through his "Minute on Indian Education" in 1835.

The PM said it was a distortion that "we borrowed democracy from abroad; democracy is in our DNA".

Modi was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Earlier, he held a roadshow to the temple, visited the newly-built Sapt Mandir, which houses temples of Maharshi Vashishtha, Maharshi Vishwamitra, Maharshi Agastya, Maharshi Valmiki, Devi Ahilya, Nishadraj Guha and Mata Shabari.

"Landed in Ayodhya to take part in the Dhwajarohan Utsav at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir," PM Modi wrote in a Facebook post.

The 'Dharma Dhwaj' carries three sacred symbols, Om, the Sun and the Kovidara tree, each representing profound spiritual values rooted in the Sanatan tradition.

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The Kovidar tree is a hybrid of the Mandar and Parijat trees, created by Rishi Kashyap, showcasing ancient plant hybridisation. The Sun represents Lord Ram's Suryavansh lineage, and Om is the eternal spiritual sound.

The hoisting of the flag coincided with the 'Abhijit Muhurat' of Shri Ram and Maa Sita's Vivah Panchami.

The Prime Minister hoisted the flag, symbolising the completion of the temple's construction and ushering in a new chapter of cultural celebration and national unity, at noon today.

Earlier today, CM Yogi called the event the "renaissance of Sanatan culture." In an X post, CM Yogi wrote, "In the foremost of the seven sacred cities, the divine Shri Ayodhya Dham, today, from the sacred hands of the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, a grand saffron flag is about to be hoisted atop the spire of the Lord Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple." "This divine message of the renaissance of Sanatan culture is infusing indomitable spiritual and soulful energy throughout the entire Bharatvarsha. The faith, penance, and anticipation of crores of Ram devotees are today about to be established at a new pinnacle. The nation is today immersed in Ram, immersed in Dharma," he added. — With agencies