New Delhi: A simple query from the Supreme Court on whether descendants of Lord Ram still live in Ayodhya has opened the floodgates for members of the ‘Raghuvanshi’ clan to stake claim to this ‘divine’ lineage.
On 6 August, Day Four of the Ayodhya land dispute hearing, the apex court sought to know from the counsel from both sides whether there were any Raghuvanshis or descendants of Lord Ram who were still residing in Ayodhya.
The question came up when K. Parasaran, arguing for Ram Lalla, the idol and party in the case, stated that the deity and his birthplace were both juridical entities and this makes them capable of holding properties and instituting lawsuits.
Now, this has led to a spate of claims from Rajasthan, and one from UP, with at least seven people insisting that they are descendants of Lord Ram.
Who are the Raghuvanshis?
In Indian mythology, the Raghuvanshis are believed to be descendants of kings tracing their ancestry to Surya or the Sun God. The family tree of Raghuvanshis is believed to have begun with King Mandhata who was known to have conquered the entire earth, and further branched onto Harishchandra, Sagara, Bhagiratha, Dilīpa, Raghu, Aja, Dasaratha and Rama (Lord Ram).
The family tree of Lord Ram begins with Brahma who created the 10 prajapatis (kings) taking forward the generations. Ram was born to Dashrath who was 66th in the family tree. He is believed to be followed by his twin sons — Luv and Kush. In mythology, Luv ruled south Kosala while Kush ruled north Kosala, including Ayodhya.
Here are the seven from Rajasthan and UP who have staked claim to Ram’s lineage.
Diya Kumari, BJP MP
The first to call herself a Raghuvanshi was Diya Kumari, the BJP politician from Rajsamand in Rajasthan. The daughter of the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Bhawani Singh, and Padmini Devi, Kumari has claimed that her lineage is well “documented” and that she has “manuscripts to prove” it.
Rajsamand MP&BJP leader, Diya Kumari claims that Jaipur's erstwhile royal family has descended from Lord Ram's son Kush, says, "I'm saying this on basis of manuscripts & documents we have. I said this after SC (during Ayodhya case) asked if there are any descendants of Lord Ram?" pic.twitter.com/U052PnDhtH
— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2019
Kumari claims that her family had originated from Lord Ram’s son, Kush. Her father had even produced documents in the Allahabad High Court to declare that the family was direct descendants of Kush. His wife, Rani Padmini, the former queen of the Jaipur royal family, had earlier stated that they were the 309th descendants of Lord Ram’s son.
Kumari, who won the Lok Sabha elections in May by over 5 lakh votes, has advocated for the Ram temple to be built at the disputed site.
Arvind Singh Mewar, hotelier
Hotelier Arvind Singh Mewar of the erstwhile Mewar royal family was the next to claim a direct link to the Hindu god. Singh is the brother of Mahendra Singh Mewar, the 76th Maharana of the Mewar dynasty. His family owns the HRH Group of Hotels.
“It is historically proven that my family is a direct descendant of Lord Ram,” Singh tweeted on 12 August. “We do not wish to stake any claim on Ram Janmabhoomi but believe that the Ram Temple must be built in Ayodhya.”
It is historically proven that my family is direct descendants of Shree Ram. We do not wish to stake any claim on Ram Janma Bhumi but believe that Shree Ram Temple must be built at Ram Janma Bhumi in Ayodhya. @PMOIndia#AyodhyaHearing #AyodhyaCase #RamMandir #Ayodhya #LordRam
— Arvind Singh Mewar (@ArvindSMewar) August 12, 2019
If his personal website is anything to go by, members of the House of Mewar, to which he belongs, are direct descendants of the Sun dynasty who were entrusted to “uphold and enshrine eternal human values that originate from time immemorial”.
Mewar claims that genealogists have traced the lineage of the House of Mewar from Lord Brahma, Manu and Ishkvaku from whom the Suryavansh or the Sun Dynasty draws its origins.
Also read: Three reasons why Ayodhya dispute should not be resolved as a Hindu-Muslim issue
Vishvaraj Singh, Mewar scion
The next to claim a direct lineage was Arvind Singh’s nephew and Mewar scion Vishvaraj Singh. Unlike Arvind, however, Vishvaraj, who once held the title as Raja of Kawardha state between 1959 and 1971, has also attempted to prove that his family actually owned Ayodhya.
In an affidavit in the Supreme Court, Vishvaraj, the oldest son of Mahendra Singh Mewar, has claimed that the late Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh of Jaipur had already declared the family ancestry documents in public several decades ago and expressed surprise that the apex court had never taken note of these documents.
Singh, who has a “record of the genealogy of Kachhawas (descendants of Kush)” to prove his claim. He has also sought ownership of Jaisinghpura (now Ayodhya) quoting historian and author, R. Nath, who in his book Studies in Medieval Indian Architecture states that documentary evidence is in closed custody at Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh II City Palace Museum, which proves that the Kachhwahas had the ownership of the Jaisinghpura.
Lokendra Singh Kalvi, Karni Sena chief
Kalvi, who recently filed an affidavit in the apex court to claim his right over the disputed land, states that he is a member of the “Sisodiya” clan, which had the Udaipur royal family under its fold.
According to his affidavit, the Sisodias are Chattari Rajputs of the Suryavanshi lineage (that of Lord Ram). Through his claim, Kalvi has also attempted to suggest that Lord Ram really lived, stating that the clans of Sisodiya and others would not have existed without the presence of the sons of Lord Ram and thus the “temple must be built as soon as possible”.
The Karni Sena chief also stated that he had filed an application with the apex court around a year ago seeking to apprise it of his ancestry and be made a party to the suit.
Pratap Singh Khachariya, Rajasthan cabinet minister
On 13 August, the Congress minister too claimed that his lineage can be traced back to Lord Ram’s son Kush. Similar to that of Mewar scion Vishvaraj Singh, Khachariya has claimed that his family belonged to the Kachhawa clan.
The minister has stated that the descendants of Lord Ram “are spread everywhere” and that the “Suryavanshi Rajput” were known by the name of Kachhawa. “Rajawat, Shekhawat, Nathawat, all share a family tree with Lord Ram,” the Congress politician said.
Like others in the race, he too has claimed to be in possession of documents to support his claim in the Supreme Court. According to him, the last king of Suryavansh dynasty in Ayodhya was Sumitra whose descendants had formed Gwalior after they left Ayodhya.
Satendra Raghav, Rajasthan Congress spokesperson
Raghav also joined the lineage race when he stated that the “Raghav Rajputs” are the direct descendants of Lord Ram.
Through social media, Raghav claimed that his family was from the Alwar ‘thikana (royalty)’, and were of the Badgurjar Gotra that originated from the third generation of Luv.
“The kingdom of Luv spread towards North Kaushal which comes under Ayodhya now while Kush spread his empire in South Kaushal which comes under Chhattisgarh,” Raghav said. “On page 1,671 of the ‘Ramayana’, it is said that Badgujar clan came from Luv.”
Also read: With Jai Sri Ram, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is trapped
Rajendra Singh, president, All India Kshatriya Mahasabha
The latest to join the bandwagon is Rajendra Singh, president of the All India Kshatriya Mahasabha.
In an affidavit addressed to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Singh, who is from Rae Bareli, has claimed to be a “Raja” and a descendant of “King Ramachandra”. He claims to have documents to prove his links to Lord Ram.
Next SC may ask for Date of Certificate or 10th class certificate for proof of age. Do any of them have it. We all live above debris, we cannot dig to find what was there beneath. A place of worship was demolished and let Muslims be allowed to restore it. LET thee be a new temple nearby. Both can be a symbol of Anekta Mein Ekta.
No way, the area belongs to temple and there was enough proof of its destruction in medieval age. If
by destruction you meant is destruction in medieval age . Then that should be restored.