Facing ire of Shankaracharyas, BJP seeks help from Shivraj Singh Chouhan
the BJP appears to be wary of the pitfalls of the Shankaracharyas not attending the consecration ceremony. The absence of the highest religious leaders arguably threatens to spotlight the political motives of the consecration ceremony amid reports that the temple completion is still a work in progress.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, January 18: Two Shankaracharyas have seemingly blunted the ‘Sanatan’ attacks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Opposition parties by not only declining to attend the Ram idol consecration on January 22 but also ambushing the saffron outfit for hurried event.
With the Shankaracharyas taking the shine away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the consecration ceremony, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan flew to Kerala on an apparent mission for damage control for the saffron outfit. Chouhan had been left on the margins of the party after the Assembly election verdict in Madhya Pradesh as the BJP replaced him with Mohan Yadav as the chief minister of the state as part of the party’s apparent move to cut the regional satraps to size.
Chouhan on Thursday reached Kaldi in Kerala which is the birth place of Adi Shankaracharya. Incidentally, Shankaracharyas of Puri in Odisha and the Chamoli Jotir Mutt in Uttarakhand Swami Nischalanand Saraswati and Swami Avimukteswaranand respectively have declined to grace the occasion of the consecration of the Ram idol in Ayodhya in the under construction temple. They have also come down heavily for the manner in which the consecration ceremony is being held in Ayodhya. They have principally objected to the ceremony being held in an incomplete temple as well as the political colour being given to the event.
Chouhan reached Kerala in an apparent bid to send out a message to the Sankaracharyas to calm down and take part in the consecration ceremony. The BJP seemingly banked on him for the rescue act as Chouhan is known to have close bond with religious leaders while also being a troubleshooter in the affairs of religion.
Chouhan in a message on the social media platform X said: “The land of Kerala is very sacred. This land gave Sanatan a leader like Adi Shankaracharya, who initiated universal unity at cultural, spiritual and geographical levels. I have come to Kaladi, the birthplace of Acharya Shankar from Madhya Pradesh, the land of knowledge and Gurubhoomi.”
Incidentally, Shankaracharya Bharati Teerth of the Sringeri mutt in Karnataka and Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati of the Sharda Peeth in Dwarka, Gujarat have maintained silence on the raging controversy while indications are that they too wouldn’t attend the consecration ceremony. Spiritual teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had also jumped into the raging controversy over the manner in which the consecration ceremony is being held by arguing that Lord Ram had also done “Pran Pratishtha without a temple”.
But the BJP appears to be wary of the pitfalls of the Shankaracharyas not attending the consecration ceremony. The absence of the highest religious leaders arguably threatens to spotlight the political motives of the consecration ceremony amid reports that the temple completion is still a work in progress.
Chouhan further wrote: “Acharya Shankar has a deep connection with Madhya Pradesh. Here he found a Guru, composed many hymns on the banks of Narmada and from here he started his Digvijay Yatra to give the message of unity to the world. Once again the universal message of unity from Omkareshwar, the land of knowledge of Bhagavatpada Adya Shri Shankaracharya ji, is giving a new direction to the entire world.”
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