Celebrations at VHP office, nerve centre of Ram temple movement

Celebrations broke out at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad office in South Delhi on Wednesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The Sankat Mochan Temple in R K Puram locality of Delhi, where the VHP office is located, was the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement launched in the 1980s where leaders such as Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Ashok Singhal sought guidance from various religious leaders.

The 1984 Dharma Sansad was a key milestone in the temple movement, when VHP, RSS and BJP associated themselves with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Follow live updates on Ayodhya Ram Mandir here

A huge room at the VHP office has been converted into a record room that is home to numerous court documents related to the prolonged court battle waged in local courts, the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court over the past couple of decades.

“Now we have to bring the ideals and teachings of Bhagwan Sri Ram to the people, so that Ramatva (Ramahood) can be restored in Bharat,” Alok Kumar, Working President of the VHP said.

For the VHP the mission was not just to build a temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram but to establish a ‘Ram Rajya’ as well, he asserted.

“We have to move towards the establishment of Ramatva (Ramahood) on earth and eradicate poverty, malaise, inequality, illiteracy and unemployment from the country,” he said.