132 "Presenting" the Past
The VHP planned to take a model of the temple in procession from
a workshop in Jaipur to Ayodhya. A decision on the temple issue was
going to be taken during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 19-
21, 2001. On the eve of this meeting, the VHP said it would convince or
even "coerce"^82 the Vajpayee government to give away the disputed land
acquired by the Center in Ayodhya for construction of the Ram temple. If
the government did not hand over the land to dharmachayaras by Shivratri
next year, Ramchandradas Paramahans said, "We will be forced to take
over the Janambhoomi complex and start construction of the temple any
day any moment." He added further, "Law is not bigger than faith. If sup-
porters of the Ram temple movement unite, the law will have to take the
back seat."^83
Toning down the provocative rhetoric and giving up the original
plan of issuing an ultimatum to the Vajpayee government, the VHP-led
Dharma Sansad adopted a resolution asking "all relevant organizations"
to "remove all hurdles in the way of the construction of a Sri Ram temple
at the Ramjanmabhoomi by March 12, 2002, the day of Mahashivatri."^84
The VHP also worked out a program of chanting Ram's name in villages
starting on November 26; offering jalabhishek in temples from September
18 to October 16, 2001; and organizing a sant yatra (procession of sadhus)
from Ayodhya to Delhi between February 18 and 25, 2002, to serve notice
on Parliament and the government to remove hurdles to the temple con-
struction. The Puri sankaracharya indicated that he would call a meeting of
the most respected dharmacharyas, vallabhacharyas, nimkacharyas, ramana-
dacharyas, madhavacharyas, and others on January 22, 2002, at the Kumbh
Mela grounds in Allahabad to discuss the issue. Despite all this heat and
dust, Prime Minister Vajpayee did not respond to media queries on the
Dharma Sansad setting a deadline.
The VHP's chetawani yatra (warning rally), which started from Ayodhya
on January 20, 2002, culminated in New Delhi on January 26. The sants
held a rally at the Ramlila grounds on January 27, where they announced
that the temple-construction program would begin as announced earlier.
On February 24, 2002, the 100-day purnahuti yagna began as a prelude to
the temple construction. However, on February 27, the focus of the coun-
try shifted to Godhra, a small town in Gujarat, where some 58 people,
most of whom were karsevaks who were on their way back from Ayodhya,
were burned to death in the S6 and S8 coaches of the Sabarmati Express
train. Communal tensions grew rapidly all across Gujarat and led to a
bloody carnage in this state, ruled by BJP hardliner Narendra Modi.
On March 8, the Vajpayee government received a letter from Ramjan-
mabhumi Nyas, a VHP outfit, seeking permission to perform a symbolic
puja on March 15 on the acquired undisputed land as part of the 100-day
yagna. On March 13, the Supreme Court heard a public-interest petition
seeking a ban on the proposed puja. Although the government told the