Curfews and popcorn: India prepares for the Ram temple in a panic

Movie theaters will broadcast the event live, while the stock exchange will be closed. However, for many who recall the blood that was poured in its aftermath, fear and suffering endure as the nation grinds to a standstill for the opening of a temple.Mumbai/Yavatmal, India - In the Yavatmal area of central India, mini-trucks have been winding through communities on winding roads for the past month.Data from the local divisional collectorate shows that Yavatmal has been in such severe agrarian hardship over the past 20 years that over 5,800 farmers have committed suicide here.However, these trucks haven't delivered any assistance to struggling farmers. Rather, the trucks have been circulating across the district, urging farmers to donate grains, with banners of the Hindu god Ram affixed to their sides.Three decades after a Hindu nationalist-led mob destroyed a mosque on the site, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate a Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The grains are their route to the city to feed the throngs of worshippers who will be in attendance.The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is a branch of the Hindu nationalist Sangh Parivar network, which is overseen by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and comprises Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is in charge of operating the trucks.Grain sacks are being quickly loaded into a big container truck at Yavatmal's Samvidhan Chowk. "Three container trucks have been filled with these donations, and this is the fourth one," states Raju Niwal, President of the VHP Vidarbha Prant. The goal, according to VHP volunteers there, is to inspire farmers to get engaged in the festivities and give them a sense of purpose.The Modi administration and its ideological supporters have been effective in stirring up this feeling all throughout the nation. The effort to erect the Ram temple at Ayodhya, where Hindu scriptures claim he was born, has been tainted by violence and acrimonious dispute for more than seven decades. A study paper published by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies estimates that during the violence that erupted around the BJP-led campaign seeking a Ram temple in the early 1990s, close to 2,500 people (PDF) were slain.However, as Modi prepares to open the Ram temple, the nation has been inundated by popular culture gestures and representations that downplay that problematic history, observers claim. This has given the Ram temple movement a positive reputation and left a lasting legacy for Modi among Hindus.The temple's inauguration is widely publicized, appearing in both schools and social media timelines. There are a ton of new songs on music outlets urging people to enjoy the occasion and declaring that Ram was "coming back." Ram's life has been the subject of new TV series. A temporary temple has been erected in the studio, and entire episodes of reality TV programs have been devoted to songs honoring Ram. Huge Ram decals are seen on news television channel cars, and news studios have giant Ram cutouts that serve as the background for news disputes. On its inaugural flight from Ahmedabad to Ayodhya, Indigo, the largest domestic airline in India, dressed up as Ram, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshman.One of the biggest movie chains in India, PVR Cinemas, stated on Friday that they would be collaborating with the leading Hindi news channel Aaj Tak to provide live footage of the temple's opening event in theaters all throughout the nation.

Those who attend would receive "a complimentary popcorn combo." Reels and videos are honoring the temple's inauguration on WhatsApp and Instagram with striking images. One such image, which has gone popular on many platforms, depicts Modi standing tall over Ram and escorting him inside the temple.The majority of this has Modi's approval; a review of his Twitter timeline shows that he has tweeted at least sixteen songs related to Ramadan this month. In fact, he put together a playlist of 62 of these songs, which he tweeted on Friday. At least five of the 14 posts he has made on his WhatsApp channel since January 1 have been about the opening of the Ram temple. Encouraged, a number of well-known artists, including Amit Trivedi and Anu Malik, as well as Sonu Nigam, Jubin Nautiyal, Shaan, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, and Kailash Kher, have released songs related to the event in the last few weeks. Modi can be seen in a lot of these music videos. These tracks have been multiplied in their reach by being recycled for crowdsourced reels and videos.However, a lot of people claim that a recognition of the violent history of the movement surrounding the temple is absent from the euphoria.