Modi welcomes stars to ‘Hindu Vatican’ on site of razed mosque
Indian PM hosts cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actors to open temple complex
THE opening of a mega Hindu temple on the grounds of a mosque razed by extremists is a symbol of “harmony”, the country’s prime minister has said.
Narendra Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist leader, inaugurated the temple in front of the country’s top politicians, Bollywood and sporting stars including the revered cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
Schools and the stock market were closed to mark the glitzy opening of the Ram Temple temple in the northern city of Ayodhya on Monday.
Nearly 8,000 people attended the unveiling while hundreds of millions are believed to have watched the ceremony live on television.
The Ayodhya temple has been compared by some Hindu nationalists to the Vatican and Mecca.
However, its opening comes against the backdrop of violence targeting muslims under the nationalist Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). More than 300 Muslim-owned homes and businesses were bulldozed in India’s northern Haryana state by BJP officials in August.
Yesterday, Mr Modi said the temple’s opening heralds a “new era”, adding “we take a pledge to build an India that is not just self-reliant but resonates with grandeur and divinity”.
He added: “The construction of this temple of Ram Lalla is also a symbol of peace, patience, mutual harmony and coordination of Indian society. We are seeing that this construction is not giving birth to any fire, but to energy,”
The temple site has remained a source of friction between the country’s Hindus and Muslims for decades. Hindus believed it to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram and claimed that the 16th-century Babri Mosque was constructed on the ruins of a Hindu temple.
A Hindu mob in 1992 demolished the Mosque, triggering nationwide religious violence that left about 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.
In December 2019, India’s Supreme Court allocated the contentious site to Hindus for the construction of the Ram Temple.
Many states across the country observed a public holiday yesterday while institutions directly under the federal government of Mr Modi observed a half-day, enabling employees to participate in the celebrations.
Schools, offices, and the stock market remained shut while jubilant Hindus carried out rallies and performed religious ceremonies.
News channels ran non-stop coverage of the event, portrayed as a religious spectacle. Some movie theatres broadcast the ceremony live with complimentary popcorn.