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Journalism of Courage
On Thursday (February 2), two sacred Shaligram stones, weighing 31 tonnes and 15 tonnes, arrived in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The stones are expected to be used for constructing the idols of Lord Ram and Janaki at the Ram Temple.
The stones were brought to the site of construction from Galeshwar Dham in Janakpur, 100 km from Pokhara in Nepal, by a delegation of 150 people, including the priests of the Janaki Temple in Janakpur and VHP national secretary Rajendra Singh Pankaj, The Indian Express reported.
In her book, ‘Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas’, anthropologist Holly Walters said that shaligram stones are fossils of ammonite, which is a type of mollusc that lived between 400 million and 65 million years ago.
Referring to a Geological Survey of India publication from 1904, Walters wrote that shaligram stones “date specifically from the Early Oxfordian to the Late Tithonian Age near the end of the Jurassic Period some 165-140 million years ago”.
Mostly found in riverbeds or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal, this stone is revered by Hindus who believe it to be a representation of Lord Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu was cursed to become the shaligram stone for “betraying the chastity of the goddess Tulsi”, Walter wrote in her book.
The stone is considered to have divine powers and is seen as a symbol of good luck and prosperity.
Lord Ram is believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, and the use of the shaligram stone symbolises the connection between the two gods. The two stones were welcomed by people in Ayodhya by offering prayers, flowers, and bursting firecrackers.
VHP leader Rajendra Singh Pankaj told The Indian Express that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had been thinking of using the shaligram stone for a long time to make the idol of Lord Ram. “So when Janaki temple authorities offered the same, the trust gave its consent,” he said.
