Most of the Indian astrologers having social media handles and blogs (myself included now) have said whatever they had to say about the Muhurtha or Election time of the laying of the foundation stone of the historic Ram Temple that is about to be built in Ayodhya. Muhurtha has been a main feature of Vedanga Jyotisha since the days of Ramayana and Mahabharata and most of the orthodox Indian families have at least one elderly or learned person who is adept in finding out the right Muhurtha for various purposes.
While the Indian astrologers are seasoned in finding the Muhurtha based on the the Panchanga or Pancha Anga - Thithi, Varam, Nakshatra, Yogam and Karanam, I have not come across many Indian astrologers who can read an actual election horoscope. The problem is not with the Indian astrologers but it is because there are less classical texts that talk about the election horoscopes. In most of the posts that I came across regarding the foundation of Ram Mandir, astrologers treat the election horoscopes just like the natal horoscopes and use the same form of interpretations and approach. Some of the basic election rules are missed. One more election that went terribly wrong was the foundation of Amravati City. Read my article here.
Some astrologers say that Abhijit itself was chosen because there was no other option and pointed out some of the remedial poojas done during the day as part of the ceremony as hindrance removers. On the other hand, some astrologers took to the social media and spoke about various facets of the election chart and gave their natal delineations which of course, are questionable.
The Election Chart
The foundation was laid when the Ascendant was at 24°15' Libra. This is a temple but for anything that we want to last long across the test of time, we would mostly choose a fixed rising sign. Since this is a temple and related to Dharma, it would make sense to choose Leo rising as Leo is also part of the royal triangle. Moreover, it would make sense to have the Moon in one of the royal triangles (Aries, Leo or Sagittarius). The Moon is posited in Saturn ruled Aquarius. I am still unsure if the election was actually selected. If it was elected, the astrologers had one thing in mind - the Moon should be visible very well. The event occurred on the 2md day after the Full Moon (Pournami). However, the day of the Full Moon wasn't selected. Probably the astrologers were worried about the Moon in conjunction with Saturn on the Full Moon day. So, then they waited for the Moon to make its way into Aquarius.
There wasn't any other option but to stick to Aquarius Moon as later would bring Pisces Moon (conjunction with Mars) and then, Saturn Moon square with the Moon in Aries. Taurus would have been okay but I have not seen the other Panchanga factors of the day and hence, I wouldn't comment on it. This seems to be the closest election that the astrologers might have figured out as there seems to be a predefined setup with regards to the date.
Rising sign is yet another debate. Leo rising is ruled out because it would put the Sun in the 12th House. Virgo is also ruled out because Mercury is combust and we don't want the ruler of the rising sign to be invisible which would indicate that the project itself would go invisible. Scorpio rising, though not conducive for the kind of election we are looking for, might not be a potential rising as well as Mars is in the 5th house which is a compromise in my humble opinion.
Sagittarius is ruled out due to the nodal axis. One would prefer Rahu in 6th and Ketu in 12th for such elections. Moreover, Jupiter is retrograde. So, Jupiter with Ketu in the rising seemingly fine would have a huge imbalance due to Rahu in the 7th. It is difficult to deal with the Nodes when it comes to elections and it is always better to put them in an aversion from the rising sign and the Lord of the rising sign.
The biggest trouble with this election is the ruler of the rising sign Venus is placed in Gemini with no reception (aversion) from Mercury along with Rahu. The nodal axis is a huge influence in altering the balance of the election and Venus in conjunction with Rahu will indicate trouble and not praises and donations from foreign. This is the kind of natal delineations that many astrologers resorted to and said good about the Venus and Rahu conjunction. This approach is questionable and might result in wrong conclusions.
More importantly, we need to put the ruler of the rising sign in domiciled, exaltation or angles and even if not in benefic configurations, one should ensure there is no malefic configuration. Venus is in cadent with no strength and afflicted by the nodal axis.
Another troublesome aspect of this election is the void of course Moon. I'd never elect a chart where the Moon is void of course unless I want things to go wayward and ultimately stalled. I'm unsure of the impact that the whole sign trine of the Moon and Venus would help the cause. Hour lord Venus in conjunction with Rahu and day Lord Mercury is combust. Although the Sun in the 10th house is a consoling factor to understand that the government has complete control over the activities, Saturn Sun opposition is worrying despite being a far off aspect.
I wanted to take the route of distributing the Moon through the bounds by using the ascensional times but I don't have the energy to do it right now. I just wanted to putforth my thoughts through this blog post.
© ASWIN SUBRAMANYAN 2020