Thousands of Indians celebrated the upcoming opening of a grand temple for the Hindu god Lord Ram, parading in the streets wearing saffron garments and waving saffron flags as they chanted religious slogans in the city of Ayodhya.
The ceremony, planned for Monday, is seen as a historic event for India’s Hindu majority, occurring as Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s party seeks a rare third term in upcoming elections.
Prime Minister Modi, in a message published on newspaper front pages, stated, “The construction of the Ram Temple is an instrument to unite the country,” in preparation for what’s expected to be a widely-viewed spectacle.
The temple, a long-promised project of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been a contentious political issue that played a key role in the rise of the party to power.
The site, which was hotly contested for decades, sparked nationwide riots in 1992 when a Hindu mob destroyed a 16th century mosque, with the dispute ultimately leading to the deaths of 2,000 people, primarily Muslims.
India’s Hindus assert that the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram and was holy to them long before a Muslim mosque was built there in 1528. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Hindus, ordering the land to be handed over and a separate plot to be allotted to Muslims for the construction of a new mosque, which has yet to begin.
Monday’s main event is scheduled to commence at 12:20 p.m. (0650 GMT) and last around 40 minutes. Nearly 8,000 people are expected to attend the invitation-only ceremony, including business leaders, movie stars, and athletes. Approximately 10,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city to provide security and prevent gatecrashers.
The temple is set to open to the public on Tuesday, with management anticipating at least 100,000 visitors per day for the initial months. The consecration has ignited religious fervor across India, prompting many to celebrate with stock markets closing and homes and businesses being illuminated at the urging of Prime Minister Modi.
According to commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta, “Just in sheer magnitude … this event has almost no precedent in history. It is a watershed moment.”
(Writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
