Will the real descendants now please stand up? (File photo of Ram Navami celebrations)
What started off as a reply to the Supreme Court’s query on whether anyone from the Raghuvansha dynasty (that of Lord Ram) was still residing in Ayodhya has now snowballed into a comedy of errors.
Errors, because the three scenarios can only be mutually exclusive, if at all one of them is true.
Rajasthan-based Karni Sena founder has claimed that his family had descended from Luv, the elder son of Lord Ram -- days after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP said she was Kush's descendant.
"I am the descendant of Lord Rama's elder son, Luv. I am Sisodiya Rajput, who was considered the descendants of Luv," Lokendra Singh Kalvi, founder of Shri Rajput Karni Sena, said.
According to a report in India Today, Kalvi further said he would, hence, want to be a party in the ongoing Ayodhya dispute being heard in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Diya Kumari, a BJP MP and a former Jaipur royal, had said: "My family is the descendant of Lord Rama. My father was the 309th descendant of Lord Ram. We belong to the Kushwaha or the Kachhawa clan."
To this end, Kalvi expressed his support towards Diya Kumari, mentioning the Ayodhya dispute was not about the descendants of Lord Ram but about the rightful owners of the land.
And this is not the end.
Arvind Singh Mewar, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Udaipur, tweeted on Monday: "It is historically proven that my family is direct descendants of Shree Ram. We do not wish to stake any claim on Ram Janma bhoomi but believe that the Shri Ram Temple must be built at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya."
Speaking to The Indian Express, Mewar said he was the 232nd descendant of Lord Ram.
“I am the 232nd descendent of Lord Ram and as I have said, we are his direct descendants. The Sisodia dynasty of Mewar traces its lineage from the Raghuvansha. We are saying that we don’t want any stake in that land in any shape or form but the temple should definitely be constructed there as it’s a matter of astha (faith),” he claimed.
Diya Kumari, on her part, said she would provide documents if they can help in expediting the Ayodhya land dispute case.
“Earlier, in 1992, my father Late Sawai Bhawani Singh Ji had submitted the documents to the Allahabad High Court. He is the 309th descendant of Kush. We are not the only descendants of Lord Ram – there must be millions all over the world. Our family is not interested in becoming a party to the case and neither are we claiming any land or title in Ayodhya. If our documents help us in expediting the case, we shall be happy to provide them,” Kumari said, according to The Indian Express.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had last week asked senior advocate K Parasaran, appearing for ‘Ram Lalla Virajman’ if there was anyone from the Raghuvansha dynasty still alive.
And we see there are many takers!
But will the real descendants now please stand up?
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