A 16th-century mosque that was destroyed in 1992 by Hindu rioters is replaced by the temple. Almost 2,000 people lost their lives in nationwide riots that were started by the demolition.
Thousands of people were invited to the Ayodhya event, which included famous actors and cricket players.
However, the majority of the opposition and some Hindu seers boycotted it, claiming that Mr. Modi was using it for political purposes.
In the coming months, India will hold general elections. According to Mr. Modi’s political opponents, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will run for office on the temple’s name in a nation where 80% of people identify as Hindu.
Additionally, detractors have charged that the government is overreaching in what is essentially a religious celebration in a secular nation as defined by the constitution.
The temple trust claims that the $217 million (£170 million) cost of construction was covered by private donations.
During the live-streamed event, Mr. Modi, priests, and Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological forerunner of Hindu nationalist parties, performed religious rites inside the temple’s sanctum. The temple’s ground floor was the only part to open; the remaining portions shouldn’t be finished until the year is out.
The ritual, known as Pran Pratishtha (loosely translating to “establishment of life force” from Sanskrit), lasted for approximately sixty minutes. Hindus hold that an idol or picture of a deity will come to life with sacred energy if certain rituals are performed around a fire and mantras are chanted.
The temple completes a long-standing promise made by Hindu nationalists to erect a shrine to Lord Ram in Ayodhya. The volatile city is undergoing significant renovations to become a popular travel destination for pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.
Many Hindus hold that Ram was born in Ayodhya, and that Muslim invaders erected the Babri mosque on the site of a Ram temple, marking the exact location of the Hindu god’s birth. The BJP rose to political prominence in the 1990s, partly due to the movement to build a temple at the same location.
