Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat visited the Mata Kaushalya Temple at Chandkhuri on the outskirts of Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, on the invitation of the ruling Congress.
Mr. Bhagwat was here for an RSS' coordination meeting that concluded on Monday.
The Kaushalya Temple, renovated by the government in 2020, is one of the many projects through which Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is portraying a connect between his government and Hindu deities and symbols. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has all along accused the government of trying to politicise religious symbols. In the specific context of the Chandrakhuri temple, BJP leaders have even questioned the validity of the claim that Chandrakhuri was the birthplace of Ma Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram.
"We had invited Mohan Bhagwat ji to visit Mata Kaushalya temple. I am sure he must have felt a sense of peace upon reaching there. He must have realised the new form of the temple, the love of Maa Kaushalya and the power of Bhancha Ram," tweeted Mr. Baghel after Mr. Bhagwat concluded his visit. The Chhattisgarhi word bhancha (nephew) is a term of endearment signifying the close association of Lord Ram with the region through maternal ties.
Through another tweet, Mr. Baghel invited the RSS chief to visit the Gauthan or cow protection centres and Swami Atmanand English medium schools where "Sanskrit was a compulsory subject".
The State unit of the Congress said Mr. Bhagwat was compelled to accept the invitation to avoid an uncomfortable situation. “This is the first time in the history of India that a Congress Chief Minister has invited the Sangh chief for a temple visit and the chief of the RSS, a self-styled flagbearer of Hindutva, was forced to visit the temple to save the credibility of his ideology. Mr. Bhagwat is well aware of how uncomfortable the situation would have been had he turned down the invitation by a Congress Chief Minister to visit the temple,” said Sushil Anand Shukla, president of the the State Congress Communications Department, the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee.
“Will Mohan Bhagwat ask his sister organisation Bharatiya Janata Party why it did not take care of Mata Kaushalya’s temple even after running the government for 15 years [BJP ruled for three consecutive terms between 2003 and 2018]? Why was the path of Lord Ram’s exile route [a reference to Ram Van Gaman Path, another such project of the Congress government] was not taken care of? Why was corruption and cow slaughter taking place in Chhattisgarh’s gaushalas for 15 years? After visiting the temple of Mata Kaushalya, the Sangh chief must have realised that religion does not require any feeling of hatred. While respecting all religions, our culture can be preserved, which Bhupesh Baghel and the Congress government have proved,” Mr. Shukla added.
