Building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was not only a historic moment for the Hindus, but for all indigenous religions all over the world. It was around 3 C.E. that Christianity took over Constantinople. From that time onwards one of the greatest iconoclastic movements in the western world started. Temples after temples were destroyed all over Rome, Greece, and the surrounding areas.
In the seventh century when Islam came into the picture, the destruction of temples were taken to another level, and these are by their own accounts. In the almost 2000 years that followed no Greek has managed to build or reclaim a temple of Apollo. No Roman has reclaimed or rebuilt a temple of Jupiter. No Egyptian has reclaimed a temple for Porus. The list is endless. The civilisations of the Mayans, the Aztecs, the native American Indians have all been wiped out. Nowhere in the world has any temple or any structure been reclaimed and rebuilt by any of the indigenous religions. At best there are remnants of architectural ruins that the world and the indigenous religion wonder about.
So, for the first time in 2000 years the Hindu society, the people of India that is Bharat have reclaimed a site, under legally valid process from the invading Abrahamic religion and managed to rebuild their own temple in a grand style. If one were to take this as a mere victory for the Hindus, it is a rather limited view.
It is truly a historic moment in the history of the world for the last few 1000 years, in which an indigenous religion dismissed as pagan religion and idol-worshipper by Abrahamic religion has successfully reclaimed a site and rebuilt a temple at this grand level. This should be taken as an inspiration for all indigenous religions, to reassert their identities, reclaim what is theirs so that the whole world at large can truly be a pluralistic, inclusive society.
Pluralism and inclusion cannot happen at the expense of indigenous religions. Otherwise it is only lip service.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
