Spotted Sadhvi Ritambhara At The Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony: Who Is She?

Sadhvi Ritambhara

Sadhvi Ritambhara, sixty, was seated in the first row on January 22 at the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir. Not long after, she posted pictures of herself, crying, standing close to BJP leader Uma Bharti, who is one of the main figures in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Fiery Hindutva speeches!

Ritambhara, well-known for her vehement Hindutva speeches, was a household name during the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the early 1990s.

Ritambhara & Babri Demolition

Ritambhara was specifically mentioned by a prosecution witness as having made a “provocative speech” during the hearing of the case before a special CBI court investigating the conspiracy theory surrounding the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

A Background Worth Looking At!

Born Nisha in the Punjabi town of Doraha in Ludhiana, she became a sadhvi at the age of sixteen when she adopted Swami Parmanand Giri of Haridwar as her teacher. In the 1980s, she gained notoriety among the RSS affiliate Vishva Hindu Parishad and launched the Jan Jagran Abhiyan.

Commission Lables!

In its 2009 report, the Liberhan Commission mentioned her as well, noting that she and Bharti had turned belligerent and militant on the day of the destruction. All of the suspects were cleared by the special CBI court in 2020.

Influence All Over

Although her comments were distributed on audio cassettes, which the Delhi Police allegedly outlawed at the time, she has mainly stayed hidden from the public eye in the last few years.

Controversy!

She was temporarily jailed in 1995 in Indore for reportedly making anti-Christian statements. In September 2022, protests forced the cancellation of a Ritambhara program that was supposed to take place at a temple in the English town of Smethwick.

What really Happened ?

Large numbers of people were seen moving towards the temple, shouting slogans, and some of them were even spotted climbing the temple walls. It was reported that the protest against the Hindutva leader had become violent.

Still Relevant!

In the Sangh parivar, Ritambhara remains significant. On December 31, 2023, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the sadhvi in Vrindavan, where she maintains an ashram for elderly people, widows, and orphaned children. On January 1, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Vrindavan for the opening of an all-girls Sainik School, praised Ritambhara for her role in the Ram Temple movement.