The Prime Minister has taken this idea from the esoteric to the level of practicality in the international arena at a time when the world was marked by divisions, stealth attacks and disregard for human values and it is no surprise that he has emerged as a global leader whose influence mattered on the issues of war and peace. The Prime Minister succeeded in turning the inauguration of Ram Temple into a starting point for a new nation-building effort, in this light.

The civilisational content of a nation today is a factor of newfound importance working for its strength. In a composite scenario marked by a multi-religious and multilingual setting, people need to have a deeper sense of unity on the strength of a shared value system, the historical sense of ups and downs and an idea of friendship and adversaries in the present. ‘Religion’ defines the relationship of an individual with his or her God and presumably makes a positive contribution to ‘culture’ that determines how the individual would treat others in society.

A collectively acceptable code of ethics can run through the nation provided notions of ‘supremacism’ were not flaunted by the followers of any faith - the assimilative character of Hinduism stood out in this context, for its adherence to the idea that “God was one but the paths to reaching Him could be many”. Prime Minister Modi’s advocacy of this approach in his Ayodhya address befitted the occasion and was timely as well.