Centre’s gift to Ayodhya: A Ramayana museum

The central government is planning to build a museum in Ayodhya dedicated to the Ramayana.

The proposed museum — a part of the Ramayana Circuit — will be 15 km away from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in Uttar Pradesh. A 25-acre plot has been identified for the project.

The plan comes at a time when assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are only a few months away.

Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, who is a Lok Sabha MP from UP, is likely to inspect the site on Tuesday. He will meet members of the Ramayana Circuit advisory board, and discuss the feasibility of connecting sites in Nepal and Sri Lanka with the proposed museum.

Elaborate discussions are expected on how to make the museum, which will portray the journey of Lord Ram, more attractive.

The government also plans to hold an international Ramayana conclave comprising delegates from 12 countries, whose venue could be either Ayodhya or Chitrakoot. Though planning for the conclave has been going on for a long time, the timing of the proposed event comes close to the UP polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has said the Ram Janmabhoomi issue will not be its poll plank. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently broke from tradition and went for Dussehra celebrations in Lucknow.

With plans of a Ramayana museum now, it appears that political parties in UP are making tactical moves ahead of the assembly elections.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had said, “If elections would have been round the corner in Bihar the prime minister would have gone there for Dussehra celebrations.”