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Thursday, July 14, 2022

Dr. Rajendra Prasad’s Speech at the Somnath Temple

Rajendra Prasad
In May 1951, when the task of rebuilding the Somnath Temple was completed, K. M. Munshi, the minister who was overseeing the construction project, requested Dr. Rajendra Prasad to inaugurate the temple and ceremoniously install the jyotirlingam. Dr. Prasad accepted the request. Jawaharlal Nehru and many leftist intellectuals were against the presence of India’s head of state at the inauguration of the Somnath Temple. To his credit, Dr. Prasad disregarded their objection. He kept his promise to inaugurate the temple. 

In his book, My Country My Life, L. K. Advani says that the speech Dr. Prasad “delivered on the occasions is one of the most important statements on secularism delivered by a President of India.” Here’s an excerpt from Dr. Prasad’s speech:  

“Even as the creator of the Universe, Brahma, resides in the navel of Lord Vishnu, similarly in the heart of man resides the creative urge and faith, and these surpass in power all the armaments, all the armies and all the emperors of the world. In the ancient era, India had been a treasure-house of gold and silver… Centuries ago, the major portion of the gold of the world was in the temples of India. It is my view that the reconstruction of the Somnath temple will be complete on the day when not only a magnificent edifice will arise on this foundation, but the mansion of India’s prosperity will be really that prosperity of which the ancient Temple of Somnath was a symbol.” (My Country My Life, page 350) 

Dr. Prasad characterized the rebuilding of the Somnath temple as a symbol of resurgent Hinduism and India’s progress:

“By rising from its ashes again, this temple of Somnath is proclaiming to the world that no man and no power in the world can destroy that for which people have boundless faith and love in their hearts… Today, our attempt is not to rectify history. Our only aim is to proclaim anew our attachment to the faith, convictions and to the values on which our religion has rested since immemorial ages.”

2 comments:

Abhay Kumar said...

Enlightening!!

Ajit R. Jadhav said...

> "In the ancient era, India had been a treasure-house of gold and silver... Centuries ago, the major portion of the gold of the world was in the temples of India."

Not in the treasuries of the kings? ... Just wondering.

... Well, now that I recall, though it wasn't mentioned in our school text-books, it is true that some "math"s (monasteries) too would give loans to kings and army generals, esp. before or after wars or famines, and not just "saavakaar"s (moneylending businessmen); e.g., Ramdas Swami did. However, in my casual readings, somehow, I hadn't come across something memorable about temples as such; not at least for the temples in Maharashtra.

--Ajit