New Delhi: Every movement has an anthem and Ayodhya may have just got one. It’s called Ram Aayenge—Ram will come—and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s endorsement is sending the song up the charts.
Caller tunes to ringtones, YouTube likes to Spotify Ram Mandir playlists, Ram songs are the flavour of the season. And Ram Aayenge singer Swati Mishra is Ayodhya’s musical icon.
“I am overwhelmed by the huge support. I even received an email from PM Narendra Modi appreciating my singing,” said Mishra, at her Mumbai residence.
The song, originally written and composed by devotional singer Prem Bhushan in November 2022, was re-recorded by Mishra. Since she uploaded it on YouTube in October, it has racked up over 44 million views. Now, Mishra is eagerly waiting for an invitation by Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to perform for the inauguration of the Ram Temple on 22 January.
Artistes are now competing against each other to not just offer hits but also have them anointed as the ‘it’ songs of Ayodhya. From an international drummer to emerging singers and famous bhajan singers like Anup Jalota, Anuradha Paudwal and Lakhbir Singh Lakkha, the desire to perform at the inauguration of Ram temple is at its peak, claims the Ayodhya development authority.
Jai Shree Ram by Anu Malik and Divya Kumar was launched on the Zee Music Company YouTube channel 10 days ago and has already garnered about 1.3 million views. Devotional singer Hansraj Raghuwanshi, who is known for his songs on Lord Shiva, released a track about Ram two weeks ago. Also called Jai Shree Ram, it has over 12 million views.
The songs and slogans around Ram have grabbed the limelight in recent decades. It started with the more assertive slogans of Ram Lalla Hum Aayenge (Ram Lalla, we will come) and mandir wahi banayenge (The temple will be built here) by Karsevaks in the 1990s. It turned political with slogans like Jo Ram ko laaye hai, hum unko laayenge (Whoever brings Ram will be voted into power) being used in campaigns by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And now, there is the melodious Ram Aayenge.
And much before all this, the famous Ramanand Sagar-directed TV serial Ramayana featured the Lata Mangeshkar song Thumak Thumak Chalat Ramchandra – about Ram’s childhood. Visuals of toddler Ram crawling on the floor and trying to walk with this song in the backdrop were the rage and melted many hearts, especially among the women in the 1980s.
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A softer Ram
When 24-year-old Aditi Shukla met a trustee from Ram Janambhoomi Kshetra Trust regarding her music last month, she was asked to revive the 1990s aggression in her song with lyrics that would depict the Karsevak movement and capture the years of struggle it took to build the temple.
But the singer, a music graduate from Delhi University’s Miranda House and a resident of Ayodhya, wanted to sing a devotional number on the “softness and godly nature of Ram”. So, Shukla kept quiet and left.
“I was also asked to include Modi and his contributions to the building of Ram Mandir in my lyrics. But I felt it was more like an election song instead of a song on Ram. I was not signing up for an election campaign,” she said.
But she has a new song ready to launch at the Mahotsav ahead of the inauguration of the temple. It’s been composed the way she wanted, with a flavour of Bollywood sprinkled into the traditional Bhakti style.
Shukla took a cue from the changing Ayodhya city for her new song. “If the city is being turned into a modern temple town to facilitate devotees, my intention was to make a song that appeals to the young generation without losing the originality of bhajans,” said Shukla.
Shukla wants to detach Ram from his aggressive masculine image. “Siya Ram is what Ram was. An obedient son, loving husband and a good brother,” she says.
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Ram bhakti through drums
Drummer Tanmay Mukherjee has a fixed routine. Every morning, he gathers young students at the T-Series StageWorks Academy in Lucknow where he trains them to drum to the rhythm of Ram chants.
“I have young students with me who are very enthusiastic about this project. We hear singers singing praises of Shree Ram but here I want to present drums as a source of music assimilating into the dhun of Lord Ram,” said Mukherjee.
He is yet another artiste awaiting an invitation to present his art form as a tribute to Ram at the temple’s inauguration.
Mukherjee wants to play this “Ram Dhun” in collaboration with the academy. His goal is to spread “Ram bhakti through drums”.
His use of Western instruments to play the traditional beat has gotten him attention on social media.
With almost 19,000 followers on Instagram, Mukherjee’s feed is filled with his appearances on TV news channels where he and his students are practising for the big event. They sit in a semicircle playing their drums as Mukherjee acts as conductor, all while chanting Awadh Mei Ram Aaye Hai.
From Raaz to Ram
The morning of 3 January brought a New Year’s gift that Mishra had been waiting for. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted her song and said that he was “mesmerised” by her voice. Before she could process the happiness, the media descended upon her residence in Mumbai and she spent the day giving interviews and singing songs for TV audiences.
“She hasn’t eaten a single meal since morning. She can’t even speak now. Her throat is hurting,” her manager Harsh Gaur had said at the time.
He says her chances of singing at the Ram temple inauguration have doubled now.
Two months ago, when Mishra came across the song by the lyricist and composer Prem Bushan, she thought that she could turn it around in her voice.
“Ram aayenge toh aangana sajaungi, deepak jala ke deewali manaungi, (When Ram comes, I will decorate the courtyard, I will light a lamp and celebrate Diwali),” she sings.
Her intention was not to become popular, she says. “I just loved the bhajan and wanted to give it my voice. So, I recorded it and uploaded it on YouTube. Within a day, the response was in lakhs,” she recalled.
Mishra started attending music classes in her hometown of Chapra, Bihar when she was just seven years old. She then moved to Varanasi for further coaching in 2017. In 2018 she started uploading her videos on YouTube. Her first video was a cover of the song Aapke Pyaar Mein from the movie Raaz (2002). Her channel has over 88 million views. Then in May 2023, she began a dedicated channel for her Bhakti music. This is where her now-viral cover was uploaded.
Her cover of Ram Aayenge shot to fame after it played during the Deepotsav in Ayodhya on 11 November. It was also playing when Modi inaugurated the international airport and revamped the railway station in Ayodhya.
Shukla is not done yet. Now, she has released an original song called Ram Aaye Hain. In it, she has asked people to light diyas, decorate their houses and celebrate Diwali as Ram is coming to Ayodhya—keeping in line with the Ram Temple Trust and PM Modi’s instructions for devotees on 22 January.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)