Once Bitten, Once Shy — College Students Across India Celebrate Ram Mandir Inauguration

Saffron flags placed on top of buildings and balconies, loudspeakers blaring songs, actors taking to Instagram to convey their wishes, and sweets distributed in every gully across the country.

Such celebrations were witnessed in Indian colleges on rare occasions — when the Indian cricket team won the ICC World Cup in 2011, for instance.

Similar scenes were however visible once again - as the prana-pratishtha concluded in Ayodhya on January 22, college student bodies and groups were out in force marking the day with much fervour.

In most colleges student politics and administrators would look down on such celebrations. But this time any opposition to the Ram Mandir was met with resistance from Hindu students. This was their moment, and they would not have it any other way.

There are two ways to see this development — one is your regular browbeating method of branding people for their religious beliefs, and the other is to see this in positive light and allow people to practice their faith.

Swarajya contacted students across India to find out what they did on January 22, and the responses solicited were nothing short of a celebration.

At West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), the students performed an aarti, followed by chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. This was being done at a time when the pran-pratishtha ceremony was being live-streamed.

A moment of silence was observed in remembrance of those martyred during the Ram Janmabhoomi struggle. Around sunset, the students distributed prasad in the mess and lit the sky with fireworks.

The scenes were similar at the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) — students took out a procession and celebrated the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in a state that has been persecuting Hindu activists for speaking their mind. Bengal has also seen violence against Hindu groups during the polls.

The celebrations were not just limited to law colleges, but engineering institutes and science colleges like the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru also joined in the celebrations.

The IISc campus was illuminated in celebration of the Ram Mandir inauguration. This landmark event was marked by a series of celebratory observances that drew in students, faculty, staff, and campus residents in a shared display of cultural festivity.

In anticipation of the day, the IISc community distributed 1,500 'Mantrakshata' from the holy city of Ayodhya, symbolising the sanctity of the occasion.

The morning's proceedings began with a pooja at the Solapuri Amma temple — a revered place of worship within the campus. The event saw an enthusiastic turnout with nearly 150 'Ram Bhakts' gathering to offer prayers and participate in the ceremonial rites.

The consecration ceremony was screened live at the CCE hall from 11 AM on January 22. It drew in nearly 600 students, and we are told that an event of this nature is happening perhaps for the first time on campus. Prasad was distributed soon after.

Students lit the campus with diyas, reminiscing Deepavali.

In Ashoka University, one of India's most talked about liberal arts institutions, students performed a pooja and bhajan sandhya on the 22nd, despite opposition from some student groups. Posters of Anand Patwardhan's controversial documentary film 'Raam Ke Naam' were placed in the college, in an attempt to provoke them, students tell Swarajya in anonymity.

Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe sent a video message to the students at Ashoka congratulating them for celebrating the special occasion.

Tensions were diffused, thanks to the administration stepping in to intervene. Students add that the management ensured they got the space required to celebrate the occasion.

Unlike Ashoka, where the tensions were quelled, Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) saw opposition from certain left-leaning groups. Banners like 'Remembering Babri', and 'Temple of Shame' were splashed across the campus, only to be taken down by Hindu groups in resistance.

We received similar reports from Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali (IISER-M), National Law University (Odisha) and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

Although there were isolated incidents of opposition held in protest against the construction of the Ram Mandir by a section of students, most celebrations have gone about peacefully.

All in all, the inauguration of the Ram Mandir also seems to have empowered a silent majority of students across the country, who were afraid to speak their minds before.

"There was yagya, paath, pooja as well as deepotsav in NALSAR, despite open opposition", a student told Swarajya.