Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a large temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram in the crisis-hit city of Ayodhya.
For Muslims, India’s largest minority, the event evoked fear and painful memories, members of the Ayodhya community told the BBC ahead of Monday’s ceremony.
It was broadcast live on television, with Modi performing religious rituals in the temple sanctum along with monks and Mohan Bhagwat, leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological source of the Hindu nationalist party. It was shown that he was doing so. Hindu devotees chant religious slogans as they watch the inauguration of the Hindu Lord Ram temple on a large screen in Ayodhya, India, on January 22, 2024. Crowds of cheering Hindu devotees packed the streets of the holy city of Ayodhya to watch the ceremony, with the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya fulfilling a decades-old promise by Hindu nationalists.
Many Hindus believe that the Babri Mosque was built by Muslim invaders on the ruins of a temple where a Hindu god was born. saffron flags with Lord Ram’s portrait lined the streets of the city decorated with marigolds, as well as banners with the faces of Mr Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. They are lined up.
Hindus believe that by chanting mantras and performing rituals around a fire, idols and pictures of deities are imbued with divine life.
Hindus believe that chanting mantras and a series of rituals performed around a fire bring sacred life to images of idols and deities. After a long legal battle erupted after the mosque’s demolition, the Supreme Court handed over the disputed land to the Hindus in 2019.
Local residents the BBC spoke to ahead of Monday’s inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya agreed that Hindus have the right to build a temple after the Supreme Court grants them the site.
Another man said he was happy that Hindus were building a temple, “but we are also sad because it was built after the mosque was destroyed.”
Preparations for demolition shocked India. The man who led Lord Ram to victory in the Ayodhya case. However, some senior religious seers expressed anger that it was against Hinduism to perform this ritual as the temple was not yet completed and many rebel leaders decided not to participate.
