Syllabus: GS 1/Art and Culture
In News: Source: TH
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited the iconic Kalaram Mandir in Maharashtra’s temple town of Nashik. The site is deeply intertwined with Hindu mythology as part of the Ramayana’s Panchavati area where Lord Ram resided in exile
About
- The original temple dedicated to an unknown deity was very old, estimated to be of the Rashtrakuta Period from 7th to 11th centuries. However, the claimed antiquity of the Rama idol that it was more than 2000 years old has not been verified.
- According to ancient epic of the Ramayana, Lord Rama was sent in exile for fourteen years. After the tenth year of exile, Lord Rama along with Lakshmana and Mata Sita, lived for two and half years on the northern bank of the Godavari near Nasik. This place is known as Panchavati.
- The Kalaram temple is situated within the Panchvati area of Nashik City (Maharashtra).
- Panchavati translates to five banyan trees where, according to Ramayana, Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman lived during exile.
- Built in 1792, the temple was funded by Sardar Rangarao Odhekar Peshwa.
- The temple derives its name from a black statue of the Lord– Kala Ram translates literally to “Black Ram.”
- The temple has been constructed with black stones and has four entrance doors, one each facing East, West, South and North.
Kalaram Temple Significance
Temple complex
- The main entrance has a Hanuman deity which is black. There is also a very old tree that has Dattatreya‘s footprint impressions marked on a stone. Pilgrims visit the Kapaleshwar Mahadev temple near the Kalaram Temple.
- Main temple of Lord Rama has 14 steps, which represents 14 years of Rama’s exile.
- Also, the temple has 84 pillars, which represents the cycle of 84 lakh species one has to go in order to get human birth.
Political Prominence
- This temple is also the site of a landmark agitation. In 1930, B. R. Ambedkar and Pandurang Sadashiv Sane led an agitation to demand access for Dalits to Hindu temples.
- The temple has drawn other leading figures too – Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray announced he would offer prayers on Ram Mandir consecration day. Over 90 years back, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar also led a pivotal temple entry movement for Dalits there.
Site of Anti-Caste Struggle
- The temple witnessed a seminal 1930 satyagraha as Ambedkar and activist Sane Guruji (Pandurang Sadashiv Sane) organized mass protests demanding oppressed castes be allowed sanctum access. The agitation faced hostility but endured for years.
- On March 2nd, 1930, Dr. Ambedkar organized a mass protest by Dalits outside the Kalaram temple demanding their right to enter Hindu shrines. Truckloads of demonstrators encircled the temple staging sit-ins over days, singing songs and shouting slogans seeking temple access.
- However, they faced hostility with an instance of stone-pelting when attempting to stop a Ram Navami procession from entering the premises. Ambedkar rushed to defuse tensions as per Dhananjay Keer’s account.
- The agitation continued until 1935 as per records. Prior in 1927, Ambedkar had launchedsatyagrahas asserting Dalits’ rights to access public water bodies. Similarly, activist Sane Guruji campaigned extensively for Dalit rights across Maharashtra, even fasting in protest at the Pandharpur Vitthal temple.
In modern times, the Kalaram temple remains strongly embedded in Maharashtra’s cultural and political consciousness. Its premises resonate with layered social connotations around religion.