Balak Ram

Bālak Ram
An image of an idol resembling a 5-year-old child Rama, wearing a crown, dressed as a prince, and adorned with ornaments. The idol is sculpted from a black granite stone known locally as Krishna Sila and is 51 inches tall. The deity holds a bow and an arrow as weapons.
The central image of the deity at the Ram Mandir located at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya
Other namesRam Lalla Virajman
Devanagariबालकराम
Sanskrit transliterationBālakarāma
AffiliationForm of Vishnu/Rama
AbodeAyodhya
WeaponBow and arrow[note 1]

Balak Ram[3][note 2] (Sanskrit: बालकराम, lit. 'child Rama', IAST: Bālakarāma) is a form of Rama, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, and is the presiding deity of the Ram Mandir, the third largest Hindu temple in the world.[7]

Rama is one of the principal deities of Hinduism and is traditionally considered by Hindus as the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. This temple is located in Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, and has been re-built to commemorate the birth of Rama at Ayodhya in the Nagara style.[8] The exact location of Rama's birthplace in the modern city of Ayodhya is subject to many controversies due to some historical events and is an important subject of political debate in India. Before the temple's inauguration, the deity was referred to by the previous name of Rām Lallā Virājamān. As Hindu devotees all over the world throng to have a darshan (auspicious viewing) of this deity, the subsequent economic impact has been estimated to enrich the state of Uttar Pradesh by the end of the year 2024 by four trillion Indian rupees (equivalent to 48 billion US dollars).[9] Giving its religious significance among Hindus, it is estimated that with 50 million annual visitors the Balak Ram's temple may soon emerge as one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world and even surpass that of Mecca and the Vatican.[10][11]

History

According to the Ramayana, Rama was born in Ayodhya.[12][13] Many Hindu temples and monuments suffered from iconoclasm and the destruction during Islamic rule during Medieval India.[14] The previous temple that was built to commemorate Rama's birth located at a place named Rām Kōṭ (Rama's fort) seems to have been destroyed during Mughal rule and a mosque known as Masjid-i-Janmasthan (mosque of birthplace) was built on top of it.[15]

Historical accounts by some European travelers who visited Ayodhya during the medieval ages suggest that the Hindus believed the mosque and its immediate surroundings to be the exact birthplace of Rama.[16][17][18] The mosque was destroyed by a right-wing Hindu mob in 1992. Nevertheless, the site of the mosque being the exact site of Rama's birthplace has been a contentious issue to date which was one of the main issues in the Ayodhya dispute that was settled by the Supreme Court of India in 2019. The aftermath of the Ayodhya Verdict, the construction of the Ram Mandir temple and the choice of the deity of Rama was supervised by Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust that was set up by the Indian government in 2020.[19]

Name

The deity was originally referred to as Rām Lallā Virājamān until the construction of the Ram mandir. In the Kavitāvali, Tulsidas uses the word Rām Lallā.[20] Lallā is a Hindi word in Braj dialect that is used in affectionately calling a child.[21] The trust says the deity of the newly constructed Ram Mandir shall be called Bālak Rām as the name was used by Tulsidas in the Rāmacaritamānasa.[3]

Description

"I spent sleepless nights working on the idol with precision but it was all worth it. I feel I am the luckiest person on the earth and today is the best day of my life."

— Sculptor Arun Yogiraj on the day of consecration.[22][23]

The murti (idol) represents Rama in the form of a small child. Three Indian sculptors, namely, Ganesh Bhatt, Satyanarayan Pandey, and Arun Yogiraj, were assigned the task of making the idol of the deity by the trust.[24] As per the trust, the characteristics of the deity were supposed to be a 5-year-old Bālaka (i.e. child) with Mandasmita Vadana (i.e. a cheerful face) possessing both Divya (i.e. divine) and Rājakumāra (i.e. princely) looks.[25]

The murti sculpted by Yogiraj was chosen as the presiding deity.[26][27] The other two are mooted to be placed within the temple as minor deities.[28] Yogiraj used a three billion-year-old stone that was found at Gujjegowdanapura village in Mysore, Karnataka.[3] He sculpted the idol of the deity based on the guidelines of the Shilpa Shastras.[25] In the idol, the deity of Balak Ram is in the Sthānaka Bhangima (i.e. standing pose) on Viśvapadmāsana (i.e. a double row lotus seat).[29][note 3] During the coronation ceremony, the eyes of Ram lalla idol had a captivated look and the Sculptor Arun was praised for his mastery.[30][31] Arun took extreme care to adhere to the Shilpa Shastras while carving eyes of the idol with a silver hammer and a gold chisel on an auspicious muhurta fixed by the head priest. He informed that before carving the eyes, he took a holy dip in the chilling Sarayu river and had darshan of Hanuman at Hanuman Garhi Temple.[32]

After consecration, the Hindus refer to the idol in the sanctum sanctorum as mūlavirāt mūrti or acala mūrti, while any replica of it used in festivals is called as utsava mūrti (lit. idol for festivals).[33] The trust has clarified that the 9-inch high Ramlalla Virajman idol which was placed in the mosque in 1949 will be henceforth used as the utsava mūrti.[34]

Consecration

Main article: Consecration of the Ram Mandir

The prana pratishtha (i.e. consecration ceremony) of the deity in the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) of the Ram Mandir occurred on 22 January 2024.[35] This ceremony was watched by millions of Hindus worldwide and the images related to it became viral.[36]

Adornments

Since antiquity, it has been a custom to offer and adorn Hindu deities with precious metals and valuable stones.[37] Famous Hindu temples of Vishnu such as Tirupati, Bhadrachalam, Srirangam, and Thiruvananthapuram have ornaments that worth crores of rupees. On the day of consecration, it was reported in the media that the deity was adorned with 15 kg of gold and no less than 18000 precious stones such as diamonds, Zambian emeralds, and rubies.[38] The Lucknow-based Harsahaymal Shyamlal Jewelers took up the task of crafting the jeweled ornaments. India Today reported that various artisans have referred to Hindu scriptures about Rama while crafting the ornaments which shows their reverence for the deity.[39] Some of the texts referred for that purpose were the Valmiki Ramayana, the Adhyatma Ramayana, the Alavandar Stotra, and the Ramacharitamanasa. The trust detailed the ornaments that adorned the deity on the day of consecration, consisting of the Ūrdhva Puṇḍra Tilaka (i.e. a Vaishnava forehead mark), a Makuṭa (i.e. a Hindu royal crown), two Kunḍalas (i.e. earrings), a Kardhani (i.e. a gem-studded girdle), a Kaṇṭhamālā to adorn the neck, a Kaustubha necklace, a Padikā (i.e. a five stranded necklace), a Vijayamālā (i.e. a garland necklace worn by Vishnu), two Bhujabandhas (i.e. two royal armlets), two jewel-studded Kaṅkaṇas (i.e. bangles) for hands, a pair of Painjaniya (i.e. anklets), and Mudrikā (rings).[39] The deity was equipped with Dhanurbāṇa (i.e. a bow and arrow); both made of gold.

Service to deity

Hindu deities are offered services to deity such as Ārati and Prasad.[40] The trust has informed that there will be six Āratis offered to the Balak Ram.[41] They are

  • Maṅgala Ārati (Sanskrit: मङ्गल आरती) is offered to awaken the deity in the morning
  • Śṛṅgāra Ārati (Sanskrit: शृङ्गार आरती) is offered after fully decorating the deity
  • Rājabhoga Ārati (Sanskrit: राजभोग आरती) is offered as mid-day royal meals and prepared for a siesta
  • Utthāpan Ārati (Sanskrit: उत्थापन आरती) is offered to awaken deity from siesta
  • Sandhyā Ārati (Sanskrit: सन्ध्या आरती) is offered performed during twilight
  • Śayana Ārati (Sanskrit: शयन आरती) is offered to put the deity to sleep

Every day, the deity is venerated with an aṣtayāma seva (A service for every yāmaḥ; three hours).[note 4][43] To offer services, the temple has five halls, namely Raṅgamaṇḍapa, Sabhāmaṇḍapa (transl. Court hall), Nṛtyamaṇḍapa (transl. Hall of dance), Prārthanāmaṇḍapa (transl. Hall of prayer), and Kīrtanāmaṇḍapa (transl. Kirtan hall).[44]

A view of the Ram Mandir on the day of consecration in January 2024.

Dressing

In Hindu temples, dressing the holy deity is considered as a form of devotional service known as Vastrālaṅkaraṇa Seva (lit. 'Dress decoration service'). The deity of Balak Ram is dressed on Sunday with pink coloured clothes, on Monday with white, on Tuesday with red, on Wednesday with green, on Thursday with yellow, on Friday with cream, and on Saturday with blue.[41] On the day of consecration, the deity was dressed in a yellow dhoti and a red angavastra. The deity will be dressed in yellow on special occasions.[45]

Temple

Ram Mandir was built in the Maru-Gurjara school (also known as Solanki) which is a sub-style of Nagara architecture of Indian temples that exist in Northern, Eastern, and Western India.[7] It is still under construction and will be the third largest upon completion.[46] The Angkor Wat in Cambodia and BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham(New Jersey)are the largest Hindu temples in the world. As per the modified design, it shall have three floors with five domes, and the whole complex spans around 120 acres. The Śikhara (trans. main dome) shall be 161 feet high.[44] The architect of the Ram Mandir is Chandrakant Sompura, whose father was Prabhakar Sompura, the Somnath temple's architect.[47]

See also

References

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Notes

  1. ^ The name of Rama's bow is Kodanḍa and his arrow is the Rāmabāṇa that is supposed to be infallible upon release.[1][2]
  2. ^ Hindi: बालकराम,[4] Tamil: பாலராமர்,[5] Telugu: బాలరాముడు,[6] Kannada: ಬಾಲರಾಮ, Malayalam: ബാലകരാമന്
  3. ^ The deity of Vishnu in Hindu iconography can be of three different postures, namely, Sthānaka (i.e. standing), Āsana (i.e. seated) and Śayana (i.e. reclining/sleeping).
  4. ^ Yām is a unit of time used in India until the modern era. It is equal to 3 hours.[42]