https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

The Day After, How Makeshift Ram Temple Was Built In Ayodhya

Vijay Shankar Pandey, a 1989-batch officer was appointed District Magistrate of Ayodhya (Faizabad) on December 7, 1992, a day after Babri Mosque was demolished. In this interview he describes how he got the towns evacuated, damaged structures repaired, and confidence restored. Pandey, who studied in Faizabad in his childhood, is happy now that a grand temple is set to be inaugurated soon and the temple town is spruced up to be on international tourist map.
Indian Masterminds Stories

December 6 was a historic day. Babri Masjid had been razed to the ground by thousands of unidentified kar sevaks, who would not listen to BJP leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia and VHP leaders like Ashok Singhal and Acharya Giriraj Kishore. Then Kalyan Singh-led state government was dismissed in the evening and the state was put under President Rule. Curfew was imposed in Ayodhya. Both DM and SP were put under suspension.

Mr Vijay Shankar Pandey, an erudite IAS officer, was appointed new DM with the onerous task of bringing situation under control. The road between Ayodhya and Lucknow – especially the eight-kms stretch between Faizabad and Ayodhya – was teeming with lakhs of kar sevaks. They won’t allow any movement of any government official, much less the security forces, towards Ayodhya till the makeshift temple came up. Mr Pandey had to be flown to Ayodhya in a helicopter to take charge. On the way he could understand that he had a tough task at hand.

In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, Mr Pandey describes the circumstances in Ayodhya when he took over as the DM. Religious structures, commercial establishments and residential premises of Minority community had been damaged some of them put on fire. Please watch the video to know Mr Pandey, a local boy – he had studied in Faizabad in his childhood – brought things under control.

Watch The Interview Here-


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
babita-kaler iAS
Gunfire Over Land Dispute: FIR Registered Against IAS Babita Kaler & Husband Following PSO’s Shooting in Jalandhar - Full Details Inside
Indian Police Services IPS Officer
Champaran to Get 6 SPs: Bihar Govt Approves New IPS Posts to Ease Police Workload - Details Inside
IAS IPS
Marriage Brings Top Bureaucrats to Rajasthan: 6 IAS-IPS Officers, Including 4 Women, Shift Cadres in 5 Months - Full Details Inside
IFS Dhananjay Mohan
Uttarakhand’s Top Forest Officer IFS Dhananjay Mohan Takes Sudden VRS Amid Sapling Procurement Row; Samir Sinha Gets Addl Charg
IFS Kshitij Saxena
Who Is IFS Kshitij Saxena, Appointed as the New DFO (Territorial) of Gangtok, Sikkim?
CM Vishnu Deo Sai - resized
Chhattisgarh: CM Vishnu Deo Sai Launches Chief Minister Bus Service Scheme; Push for Connectivity and Development in Bastar and Surguja
CM Pushkar Dhami-resized
Uttarakhand: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Unveils First Yoga Policy; Bhararisain to Emerge as Global Yoga Capital
IPS Laxmi Singh
UP: IPS Laxmi Singh, Commissioner of Gautam Budh Nagar Police, Cracks Down on Laxity, Suspends Officers over Crime Control Failures
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
What ill-fated pilots of AI171 may have gone through in those 40 seconds before the crash? Intro:
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s 27-Year Odyssey with Indian Railways | Exclusive Interview
Monika Singh
The Civil Servant Who Finds Peace in Poetry
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Raju Wagh
When the Battlefield Became a Study Room and a Dream Took Flight
Amid IED blasts and anti-Maoist operations in Bastar, CRPF Commando Raju Wagh taught village kids, studied...
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-18 at 10.31
"I Just Wanted to Breathe Again": The Man Who Fought Death and Made It to UPSC
Struck by COVID at the peak of his UPSC prep, Devanand Telgote spent months on ECMO, unsure he'd live,...
Ravinder Nandal IDES
IDES Ravinder Nandal's Story of Self-Made Success
Balancing fatherhood, full-time jobs, and six UPSC attempts, Ravinder Nandal’s story is one of perseverance,...
Social Media
Tigress Arrowhead
The End of an Era: A Queen Falls - Ranthambore’s Iconic Tigress Arrowhead (T-84) Passes Away at 14, Hours After Daughter’s Relocation
Ranthambore mourns the loss of one of its fiercest and most beloved tigers, Arrowhead, the granddaughter...
Screenshot 2025-06-13 194001
Wild Elephant Disrupts Riverside Picnic, Sparks Debate on Human Encroachment; IFS Parveen Kumar Shares the Video - Watch Here!
Mr. Kaswan used the viral video, which has garnered over 1.5 lakh views, to highlight the risks of human...
Tiger jump Sundarban
Stunning Viral Video Shows Royal Bengal Tiger Making Spectacular 30-Foot Leap Across River in Sunderbans - See It Here
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda shared the clip online, which quickly went...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
babita-kaler iAS
Gunfire Over Land Dispute: FIR Registered Against IAS Babita Kaler & Husband Following PSO’s Shooting in Jalandhar - Full Details Inside
Vishwajit Singh
From Bureaucrat to Ironman: Vishwajeet Singh Sheoran, Haryana’s First HCS Officer to Complete the Ironman, Redefines Greatness
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
Monika Singh
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT