Advani's Rath Yatra That Changed The Face Of Hindutva

BJP Stalwart LK Advani rolled out his Rath Yatra from Gujarat’s Somnath on September 25, 1990. (Photo: Getty)

Initially, LK Advani had planned a padyatra (foot march). BJP leader Pramod Mahajan had a brainwave that would invoke a sense of unity among the nation's Hindus—a rally on a chariot, or 'Rath Yatra'. (Photo: Getty)

BJP's decision to undertake the yatra in a mini-truck was aimed to strike a chord with the masses through sheer optics in 1990. (Photo: Getty)

Rath Yatra was aimed at setting the tone for a fresh surge of majoritarian sentiment around Ram Mandir. The Yatra propelled Advani as the unwavering face of Hindutva. (Photo: Getty)

Advani couldn't complete his grand Rath Yatra as he was arrested by the Lalu Prasad Yadav administration in Patna on October 23, 1990. (Photo: Getty)

LK Advani spent five weeks in detention. (Photo: Getty)

Advani's arrest, however, only angered thousands of kar sevaks, who marched on to Ayodhya. (Photo: Getty)

The Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was brought down, brick by brick, on December 6, 1992. (Photo: Getty)

The saffron volunteers were responding to a clarion call by the BJP and its ideological parent — the RSS — and the VHP to gather in the temple town. (Photo: Getty)