Religious spectacle to mark opening of Ram temple by Modi in India today
PM urges people to light lamps in homes and temples and mark Diwali again
Agrand temple to the deity Ram opens today on a site in India millions believe is his birthplace, in a religious spectacle led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The construction of the temple is a 35-year-old, central promise of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The temple site was contested for decades with both Hindus and Muslims laying claim to it and was a flashpoint for violence after a Hindu mob in 1992 destroyed a 16th century mosque which stood there.
In 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus and ordered allotment of a separate plot to Muslims.
Today, Modi will take part in the culmination of rituals to inaugurate the temple, for which thousands of members of BJP and its affiliates, religious leaders and devotees from across the country are expected to gather in Ayodhya.
Some of India’s top business leaders, movie actors and sportspersons have also been invited for the consecration, organisers said.
“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India during the consecration,” Modi said on X as he began 11 days of special rituals ahead of the inauguration.
Calling it a historic moment when the deity Ram will take his place in his grand temple, Modi has urged Indians to light lamps in their homes and neighbourhood temples on Monday evening and once again celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which usually falls in October-November.
The temple site was contested for decades with both Hindus and Muslims laying claim to it and was a flashpoint for violence after a Hindu mob in 1992 destroyed a 16th century mosque which stood there.