And Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected stand on stage with Modi despite the death on Sunday of Kamal Rani Varun, a minister in his cabinet who died from coronavirus.

Adityanath said in a statement on Monday that “the main focus is keeping in mind Covid-19 and strictly implementing guidelines” and that only those invited should attend. “All steps are being taken to ensure their safety, I appeal to all devotees to remain where they are, in their homes, in their temples,” he said.

Ahead of the event, the District Magistrate of Ayodhya, Anuj Kumar Jha, sought to calm fears of the virus spreading, saying, “We will conduct this program in a Covid-free manner.”

“If any person is positive, we will isolate and remove them, and disinfection and sanitization will be carried out constantly during the program,” Jha said in a statement on July 30, adding that everyone working for event is being monitored.

At the ceremony, Modi will perform a prayer as nine foundation stones will be laid marking out the coordinates of the temple’s innermost sanctuary. Holy water from 2,000 locations across the country has been sent by devotees and will be used in the prayer ritual, according to the group in charge of constructing the temple, the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.

In the run up to the ceremony, Ayodhya underwent a makeover, with freshly painted houses and saffron flags put up around the town.

Others say it is the culmination of years of Modi and his BJP government’s policies that have pushed a Hindu nationalist agenda onto secular India, and polarized Hindus and Muslims.

Cultural significance

The Babri Masjid was built on a disputed site in Ayodhya in the 16th century and the town has been a religious flashpoint for more than 400 years.

For Hindu groups, the laying of the temple’s foundation stone is significant because the spot is believed to be where Lord Ram, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, was born.

However, Muslims have also been praying at the site for centuries. Both communities have lodged legal complaints and suits for decades until the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the Hindu temple.

The ruling was seen as a blow to India’s estimated 200 million strong Muslim minority, many of whom see themselves as second-class citizens following the BJP’s apparent endorsement of Hindu nationalist polices.

Laying the stone is a victory for Modi’s BJP as it fulfills a key election promise to build the temple at Ayodhya.

It was the issue of Ayodhya that first helped the BJP to gain significant electoral ground. The dispute over the religious site was seized on by the BJP to help secure over half the seats in Uttar Pradresh’s 1991 state elections, one year before the deadly riots.

While India is a secular nation in its constitution, the BJP has its roots in India’s Hindu right-wing movement and many followers of which see India as a Hindu nation.

Wednesday also marks one year since the Prime Minister made the surprise decision to scrap a constitutional provision that granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir relative autonomy — another major election promise.