In an Indian city often known as a flashpoint for sectarian violence, employees are crafting the ultimate touches on a divisive temple that has come to symbolise the nation’s rising tide of Hindu nationalism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will subsequent month inaugurate Ayodhya’s new shrine to Lord Ram on a website the place a mosque as soon as stood, earlier than it was torn down by Hindu zealots greater than three a long time in the past.

Muslim residents of town, remembering the lethal riots that accompanied the demolition, have been cautious of its renewed ambiance of non secular fervour.

But for a lot of extra, the undertaking is each a way of restoring Ayodhya to the glory of its depiction in historic Hindu texts, and proof of Modi’s dedication to defending India’s majority religion simply months forward of nationwide elections.

“Modi has stayed true to his promise,” housewife Gudiya Devi advised AFP outdoors one other temple in Ayodhya after her morning prayers.

“All these years we dreamt of a majestic Ram temple and now that dream is coming true,” she added. “This is all thanks to Modi. He is our true leader.”

Artisans have been toiling on prime of bamboo scaffolds Friday to complete decorative particulars on the primary construction of the imposing shrine, which is able to stand 50 metres (160 ft) tall at its highest level.

With a price ticket of an estimated 20 billion rupees ($240 million) in keeping with undertaking supervisor Jagdish Aphale, its builders count on tens of thousands and thousands of Hindu pilgrims to go to the temple every year. 

Immense sums from authorities coffers have poured into Ayodhya to offer town’s dilapidated infrastructure a facelift forward of the inauguration. 

A brand new worldwide airport will open on Saturday, highway and rail connections have been upgraded and a crop of recent motels have sprung up nearly in a single day.

Sidewalks and pillars have been adorned with the saffron flags and marigold flowers utilized in Hindu festivities to welcome travellers. 

“So many pilgrims have already started pouring into the city,” mentioned Shubh Mangal, a 52-year-old who makes his dwelling promoting flowers and different choices for Hindu worshippers.

“My profits have doubled. We are all overjoyed.”

– ‘Full of dread’ –

Ram is among the most revered deities within the Hindu pantheon because the protagonist of the Ramayana, one of many religion’s two foundational epics, which chronicles his battles with the demon-king Ravana. 

Devout Hindus consider that Ram was born in Ayodhya round 7,000 years in the past however that through the rule of the Mughal Empire, the Babri Masjid mosque was constructed on prime of his birthplace within the sixteenth century. 

Modi’s presence on the inauguration is successfully the opening salvo in his marketing campaign for re-election later in 2024.

His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has campaigned for many years to construct a temple on the positioning and its activists have been instrumental within the mosque’s demolition. 

One senior BJP chief travelled across the nation to rally the devoted to the trigger in a Toyota sedan fitted to resemble Ram’s legendary chariot — a procession that sparked a number of non secular riots in its wake. 

The mosque was torn down by a mob in 1992, triggering one other wave of riots throughout the nation that killed 2,000 individuals, principally Muslims.

Its destruction was a hammer blow to the foundations of India’s secular political order, paving the best way for the rise of Hindu nationalism to grow to be the nation’s dominant political drive.

The website lay dormant for many years earlier than a Supreme Court determination in 2019 permitted development of the Ram temple.

Haji Mehboob, a witness for the dropping aspect of that case, mentioned Modi’s presence on the temple’s inauguration was one other milestone within the growing entanglement of Hindu worship and politics. 

“The prime minister of a secular country is coming to inaugurate a Hindu temple… with an eye on winning the 2024 elections by reaching out to his Hindu base,” he advised AFP.

“The Muslim community in Ayodhya is full of dread over what the future holds for them.”

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