Vishva Hindu Parishad tasked with conducting events, plans to follow them up with Hanuman Jayanti celebrations around April 23-24
By Saibal Gupta, Meghdeep Bhattacharyya
The saffron ecosystem plans to optimally utilise Ram Navami in poll season, with events planned at 5,000-odd locations across Bengal between April 9 and 17 to milk the political opportunity from Narendra Modi’s January 22 consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Sangh Parivar affiliate Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), tasked with conducting the events, plans to follow them up with Hanuman Jayanti celebrations around April 23-24. Bengal goes to polls, along with the rest of the nation, from April 19.
“In every prakhanda (block) there will be Ram Navami celebrations. Saffron flags will be hoisted at homes and temples as part of the Ram mahotsav. Religious processions will be taken out in rural and urban hubs alike,” said Sachindranath Singha, the VHP’s national assistant secretary and its Bengal minder.
Ram Navami is believed to mark the birth of Ram, deemed by some sections of Hindus to be a major deity as the seventh avatar of Vishnu.
“In between, there are occasions such as Annapurna Puja (April 16-17) and Poila Boishakh (April 15), and we will take part in those too,” he added. “This year, we hope to take out at least 5,000 Ram Navami processions in Bengal. Last year, for Hanuman Jayanti, we brought out more than 500 processions in Calcutta alone, and this year the number too will increase.”
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com. Read the full story here.