India’s cultural roots drive progress in modern era

India today no longer tiptoes around its identity and strides forward, "unapologetically rooted" and confidently modern, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said while asserting that cultural nationalism, once dismissed as "regressive", has emerged as the binding force of progress.

The minister, who holds the portfolios of culture and tourism, in an article written on the completion of 11 years of the Narendra Modi government has also highlighted the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the installation of the historic Sengol in the new building of Parliament.

The culture ministry on Monday shared a soft copy of the article, titled "A Decade of Dharma: Cultural Renaissance in the Modi Era", with reporters.

The "pran pratishtha" at the Ram temple in January 2024 was not just a "religious milestone", it was a "moment of civilisational redemption", Shekhawat said in his nearly-900-word piece.

"After centuries of invasion, colonial distortion and political delay, the temple stood tall -- etched in sandstone, echoing with mantras and pulsing with history. It wasn't just about architecture; it was about the healing of a wounded soul. The return of Shri Ram to his birthplace rekindled the spirit of a nation that had long carried the silence of exile in its heart," he wrote.

In his article, the Union minister also mentioned that the installation of the Sengol -- a sacred sceptre -- in the new Parliament building in May 2023 marked the "dharmic transfer of power".

"Its restoration was not just an act of remembrance, it was a powerful declaration that India would no longer view itself through borrowed eyes. The Sengol represented rule anchored in righteousness, not relics of empire, a decisive embrace of India's own statecraft and spiritual traditions, long overlooked in a post-colonial order," he said.

This is the third term of the Modi government after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA won the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union council of ministers was held on June 9 last year in the grand forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In the Modi government 3.0, Shekhawat serves as the Union culture and tourism minister, while Rao Inderjit Singh is the minister of state in the culture ministry and Suresh Gopi is the minister of state in the tourism ministry.

"From the outset in 2014, it was clear that under the Modi government, culture would no longer be ornamental, it would be foundational. International Yoga Day, first observed in 2015, saw millions across the globe celebrate an ancient Indian practice that fuses body, mind and spirit. Yoga was not just a wellness routine -- it became India's greatest cultural export of the past few years," Shekhawat wrote.

In the anniversary piece, he asserted that "India today no longer tiptoes around its identity".

"It strides forward, unapologetically rooted and confidently modern. Cultural nationalism, once dismissed as regressive, has emerged as the binding force of progress," the culture minister said.

Shekhawat underlined that in the "BJP's ideological compass, culture is not an accessory, it is the axis".

Laying emphasis on the call of "Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi", the Union minister said under the Modi government, this slogan "wasn't mere rhetoric".

"It defined a new vision where GDP growth, digital infrastructure and defence modernisation were inseparable from temple restoration, tribal pride and civilisational storytelling," he said.

"In these 11 years, the Modi era has not merely overseen a cultural policy, it has awakened a cultural consciousness. What began as restoration became resurgence. And what was once neglected as nostalgia has now become the nucleus of national identity," Shekhawat asserted in his article.