In an event regarded as the pinnacle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist aspirations, millions of Indians watched the opening of a massive Hindu temple on Monday, months before he attempts to win an unprecedented third term in office.
After more than 30 years of construction, the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, a temple dedicated to Lord Ram, will finally open in Ayodhya, northern India. This is anticipated to significantly strengthen Modi’s electoral campaign.
Modi’s vision of a “new India,” which many believe will see the country become primarily Hindu, has come true with the construction of the Ram Mandir.
The opening of the temple is, for Modi’s opponents, the completion of a long-running effort to distance India from the secular foundations upon which it was established after gaining independence.
“Our Lord Ram has arrived today. It is finally here—our Ram has been waiting for generations. “Our Lord Ram has arrived after centuries of unparalleled patience, innumerable sacrifices, renunciations, and penances,” Modi declared from the newly built temple decorated with vibrant flowers, in front of 7,000 spectators that included celebrities, elite cricket players, and business magnates.
He went on, “Ram is the solution; Ram is not a dispute.”
The event on Monday carries out a long-standing pledge made to voters by Prime Minister Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which helped them win election victory in 2014.
Years before, in a deadly 1992 attack that fueled the nation’s Hindu nationalist movement, Modi and his political supporters had sworn to erect a temple on the site of a mosque dating back to the 16th century that had been destroyed by violent Hindu hardliners.
The BJP and other right-wing organisations spearheaded the demolition of the mosque, which propelled the party into mainstream politics and helped it win a general election four years later.
“We have to set the stage for the new millennium starting today, at this moment of great significance. By moving forward of building the temple, now we all take the pledge of establishing a national, capable, successful, beautiful, and divine India,” Modi said.
Modi oversaw the Pran Pratishtha, or consecration ritual, of an idol of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most venerated deities, within the temple’s sanctum sanctorum on Monday. The statue of black stone, which was decorated with gold jewelry, jewels, diamonds, and flowers, was shown as a young boy.
Outside, flower petals were dropped over the enormous structure and the throngs of dignitaries below by military helicopters taking off over the city and temple.
The head of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the parent organization of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mohan Bhagwat, spoke at the occasion and stated that the temple “has become a symbol of a new India that will stand tall.”
“We know and it has been said that India’s self has returned today in Ayodhya with Lord Ram,” he remarked.
One of the most divisive political personalities in the nation, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya is located, referred to the Ram Mandir as India’s “national temple” and a “important ritual of cultural reawakening.”
Throughout the day, hundreds of worshippers flocked to the historic town’s streets in joyous processions, with marigold flowers adorning building entrances and saffron flags flying aloft.
Politicians encouraged people to participate in celebrations in their homes and temples, guaranteeing that it would be a nationwide occasion. Festivities were staged all over the nation.
Monday was designated as a public holiday in Uttar Pradesh, and all state-wide schools and bars were closed.
On Sunday, hundreds of Indian expatriates flocked to New York to celebrate the inauguration in front of a large image of Lord Ram displayed on a screen in Times Square. Viewing parties were held at Indian embassies across the globe.