Indian PM Modi inaugurates Ram temple in Ayodhya
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a giant temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram in the delicate city of Ayodhya.
He said it heralded “a new era” for India: the temple replaces a 16th-century mosque demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots in which about 2,000 more people died.
Among the visitors to the occasion in Ayodhya were prominent movie stars and cricketers.
But some Hindu seers and most of the opposition boycotted it, saying Mr Modi was using it for political gain.
General elections are scheduled in India in the coming months and Modi says the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will seek votes for the convocation of the temple in a country where 80 percent of the population is Hindu.
Critics have also accused the government of exploiting a religious celebration in a country which – according to its constitution – is secular. For Muslims, India’s biggest minority, the event evoked fear and painful memories, members of the community in Ayodhya told the BBC in the run-up to Monday’s ceremony.
Broadcast live on television, it showed Mr. Modi performing rituals inside the temple shrine in the group of priests and Mohan Bhagwat, leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological source of the Hindu nationalist parties.
“Today’s date will go down in history,” Modi said after the event. “After years of struggle and countless sacrifices, Lord Ram has arrived. I would like to congratulate the entire country on this historic occasion. “
The temple was built at a cost of $217 million (£170 million), funded through personal donations. Only the ground floor has been opened, the rest is expected to be finished by the end of the year. The structure is part of an overhaul of the city, which is estimated to cost more than $3 billion.
Image source, Reuters
Cheering crowds of Hindu devotees filled the streets in the holy city of Ayodhya to watch the ceremony
The structure of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is part of a decades-long Hindu nationalist commitment. Many Hindus believe that the Babri Mosque was built by Muslim invaders on the ruins of a temple where the Hindu god was born.
The motion to build the temple helped propel the BJP to the forefront of politics in the 1990s.
There was a festive atmosphere as tens of thousands of devout Hindus chanted, waved flags and beat drums; Army helicopters dropped flower petals on the temple. Saffron-coloured flags with photographs of the city streets bordering Lord Ram are adorned with marigolds, as are banners with the faces. Mr. Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
It was attended by some of India’s biggest celebrities, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
In many other northern cities, Hindus lit saffron lamps and flags adorned with photographs of Ram flying from rooftops, including in several parts of Delhi. Cinemas screened the occasion and giant screens beamed photographs of Ayodhya to public squares and residential areas.
The ceremony, called Pran Pratishtha, which in Sanskrit means “establishment of life force,” lasted about an hour. Hindus chant mantras and perform rituals around a fireplace to breathe sacred life into an idol or a photograph of a deity.
Several domestic TV stations built huge sets by the side of the river Saryu, a tributary of the Ganges, just behind the temple, and provided wall-to-wall coverage of the event, some proclaiming the moment of consecration as the start of “Ram Rajya” (Lord Ram’s rule) in India.
Hindus have also celebrated the inauguration in some countries. Huge billboards depicting Lord Ram adorned New York’s Times Square, where an organization of worshippers braved the frigid weather to gather in the middle of the night.
Temples across the UK, where Indians make up one of the largest groups in the diaspora, marked the event. Colorful posters were shared inviting worshippers to honor the moment and the celebrations involved flowers, candy and music. There were also some celebrations in Muslim-majority Dubai, where Indians make up a significant population but, according to Indian media, appear to be more low-key than elsewhere.
Hindus believe that the chanting of mantras and a series of rituals performed around a fireplace give sacred life to an idol or a photograph of a deity.
In 2019, the Supreme Court awarded the disputed land to Hindus after a long legal war that followed the mosque’s demolition. The Muslims were given land outside the city to build a mosque, but they have not yet built one.
A member of the network the BBC spoke to in Ayodhya ahead of Monday’s inauguration agreed that Hindus had the right to build the temple after the Supreme Court awarded them the site.
“We did not accept that decision happily, but what can we do,” he said. Another man said he was happy Hindus are building the temple – “but we are also sad because it was built after destroying a mosque”.
The new three-story temple, made of pink sandstone and anchored in black granite, spans 7. 2 acres in a 70-acre complex. A 51-inch (4. 25-foot) statue of the deity, specially commissioned for the temple, was unveiled last week. . The idol placed on a marble pedestal in the sanctum sanctorum.
Thousands of police officers were deployed for Monday’s event, Modi asked pilgrims not to show up or watch the rite on television. In many states, full-day and half-day vacations were imposed, with schools closed, as well as inventory markets.
But some wonderful devout seers sounded a bitter note claiming that since the temple was not yet finished, it was against Hinduism to perform rituals there, and that many opposition leaders remained aloof.
Some opposition-led states have also announced their own plans for the day: West Bengal’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, said she would pray at the iconic temple of Goddess Kali in Kolkata and then lead an interfaith gathering. The eastern state of Odisha (Orissa) has revealed plans to take pilgrims to the Jagannath temple in Puri, one of the holiest sites for Hindus.
Authorities say they expect more than 150,000 visitors per day once the Ayodhya temple is fully ready.
To cope with this expected rush, new hotels are being built and existing ones are being renovated from a primary renovation and, in recent weeks, a new airport and exercise station have opened their doors.
Authorities say they are building a “world-class city where other people come as pilgrims and tourists”, but many citizens told the BBC that their homes and “religious structures” have been demolished in whole or in part to make way for the widening of the road. set up other installations.
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