Ram temple is inaugurated in northern Ayodhya city
Ram temple is inaugurated in northern Ayodhya city 32 years after a Hindu nationalist mob demolished the Mughal era Babri mosque. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a grand temple to the Hindu God Ram in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, culminating a four-decade campaign to build the temple by Hindu far-right groups.
The temple, popularly known as Ram Mandir, is being constructed on the land where a 16th-century mosque stood until 1992, when Hindu far-right mobs demolished it, triggering a nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots that killed more than 2,000 people, most of them Muslims.
Hindus claim the Babri Masjid was built on the site of a temple during the first Mughal ruler Babar, on land that was the birthplace of their chief deity Ram. Muslims offered prayers until 1949 when idols were placed inside the mosque allegedly by Hindu priests.
An Indian Supreme Court ruling in 2019 gave ownership of the land to a Hindu trust. The inauguration of the temple is being seen as a symbol of religious triumphalism, turning India’s secular democracy into a Hindu-first nation, further polarising politics that will likely benefit the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) months ahead of general elections.
Here is a timeline of the mosque-temple dispute:
1528 – Mosque construction
Babri Mosque is built by Mughal commander Mir Baqi under the rule of the first Mughal king, Babur.
1853 – First recorded instance of conflict
A Hindu sect claims that a temple was destroyed during Babur’s reign to make way for the mosque.
1859 – The British erect a fence
The British colonial administration partitions the site into two separate sections for Hindus and Muslims. Muslims allowed to pray inside, while Hindus allowed to worship in the outer courtyard.
December 23, 1949 – Mosque becomes a ‘disputed property’
The government declares the mosque a “disputed property” and locks its gate after idols of Ram deity are allegedly placed by Hindu priests inside the structure, according to police reports. No Muslim prayers offered at the mosque after that.
1950-61 – Civil suits filed
Four civil suits are filed in the court ranging from the rights to perform Hindu rituals at the site to a Muslim group seeking declaration and possession of the site.
1984 – Hindu temple committee
A committee is formed by Hindu far-right groups, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), to spearhead the construction of a Hindu temple.
1990 – BJP’s Ram temple campaign
BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani leads a nationwide campaign to build a temple in the place of the mosque. The nationwide campaign leaves a trail of violence in its wake, resulting in Advani’s arrest in the eastern state of Bihar.
December 6, 1992 – Hindu nationalist mob tears down the mosque
Tens of thousands of Hindus gather in Ayodhya, pulling down the 16th-century mosque. Hindu-Muslim riots break out across the country.
December 16, 1992 – Liberhan Commission
Ten days after the demolition of the mosque, the central government forms the Liberhan Commission to investigate the incident.
2003 – Archaeological survey
Archaeologists begin a court-directed survey to determine whether a Hindu temple existed at the site. The survey says there is evidence of a temple beneath the mosque, but many archaeologists and Muslims dispute the findings.
June 2009 Liberhan Commission report
The commission submits its report 17 years after the demolition of the mosque. The report names several leaders of the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as responsible for the demolition of the mosque. Some senior BJP leaders, including Advani, face trial.
September 2010 – Site to be ‘shared’
Three judges of the Allahabad High Court rule that Hindus and Muslims should share the disputed site. The court says two-thirds of the 2.77-acre (1.12-hectare) site belongs to Hindu groups – Nirmohi Akhara sect and Ramlalla Virajman – and the rest to the Muslim group (Sunni Central Wakf Board, UP).
May 2011 – Ruling suspended
The Supreme Court suspends the High Court ruling following appeals by Hindu and Muslim groups.
March 21, 2017 – Out-of-court settlement
The chief justice of India suggests an out-of-court settlement between Hindus and Muslims.
April 19, 2017 – Conspiracy charges
The Supreme Court revives conspiracy charges against top governing party leaders – Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi – and 13 others in the mosque demolition case.
December 5, 2017 – Supreme Court hearing
The top court hears 13 appeals in the dispute.
January 25, 2019 – Five-judge bench to hear case
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi sets up a five-judge bench to hear the case overruling an earlier order by then-CJI Dipak Misra to set up a three-judge bench. The new bench comprises Chief Justice Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer.
March 8, 2019 – Mediation panel set up
The top court sets up a mediation panel headed by former Supreme Court judge FM Ibrahim Kalifulla to reach an out-of-court settlement.
August 2, 2019 – Mediation failed
The Supreme Court says mediation efforts have failed.
August 6, 2019 – Day-to-day hearing
Supreme Court commences day-to-day hearing on the Ayodhya land dispute.
October 16, 2019 – Hearing concluded, order reserved
The Supreme Court concludes the hearing; the five-judge bench reserves the judgement.
November 9, 2019 – Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court rules that the land must be handed over to a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple, subject to conditions. A separate piece of land in Ayodhya is awarded to Muslim groups.
February 5, 2020 – Trust set up
A 15-member Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is set up to oversee the construction and management of the temple.
August 5, 2020 – PM lays foundation stone
Modi lays the foundation stone for the temple and unveils its plaque.
September 30, 2020
A court in Lucknow acquits senior BJP leaders, including Advani – a one-time mentor of Prime Minister Modi – in the case for lack of evidence.
January 22, 2024 – Temple consecration
Despite the construction of some wings still pending, the Ram temple is consecrated.
A large ceremony featuring prominent figures, Hindu spiritual leaders, and Modi is held in Ayodhya.
The ceremony involves a procession of idols and a statue of Ram being placed in the inner sanctum of the building.
Half a million people entered the new Ram Mandir on Tuesday, a controversial Hindu temple in the holy town of Ayodhya that is built on the ruins of a destroyed 16th century mosque.
Huge crowds of devotees queued outside the temple in the early hours of the morning carrying saffron flags and religious offerings on the first day the large complex was open to the public.
A day earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, in the building’s inner sanctum in a ceremony widely seen as a landmark departure from India’s secular foundations post-independence.
Every pillar and wall of the temple’s exterior was decorated with flowers and religious Hindu motifs.
Heavy security surrounded the complex, with visitors required to go through checks before entering the building.
Half a million people thronged the temple on the first day, according to the Uttar Pradesh Information and Public Relations Department. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to visit in the coming days and weeks.
“I’ve bathed and been here since early morning,” Deva, a 30-year-old devotee who had travelled from the Himalayan hill town of Shimla told CNN. “I won’t leave without getting a glimpse of Lord Ram.”
Savitri, 44, was among those who had managed to get into the temple’s inner sanctum where the new statue of Ram resides. “I was at the gate since 4am,” she said. “It opened at 7am, I went in braving the massive crowds, but thanks to Lord Ram we got a glimpse of his idol inside and I felt as if I had been blessed by him.”
“I’m leaving behind all my worries,” she added.
Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple Monday, Modi presided over the Pran Pratishtha, or consecration ceremony, of an idol of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities.
Depicted as a young boy, the Ram statue of black stone was adorned with gold jewelry, gemstones, diamonds and flowers.
“Today our Lord Ram has come. After centuries of waiting, our Ram has arrived. After centuries of unprecedented patience, countless sacrifices, renunciations, and penances, our Lord Ram has arrived,” Modi said in a speech from the newly-constructed temple bedecked with colorful flowers.
“Ram is not a dispute, Ram is the solution.”
Hindu priests were also invited to the temple’s opening, with hundreds flocking inside with their cameras to catch a glimpse of the Ram idol and the grand interiors.
Dressed in saffron robes, a color closely associated with Hinduism, they were among the first people to step inside the vast building shortly after its inauguration by Modi.
Outside the temple’s complex, devotees thronged the streets of Ayodhya, praying in the holy river and performing rituals as the ceremony unfolded.
Men and women were pictured carrying saffron flags, wearing flowers around their necks and chanting religious slogans.
The Ram Mandir is the realization of Modi’s dream to create what he has called a “new India,” which many consider to be the transformation of the country into a distinctly Hindu nation.
For Modi’s detractors, the temple’s inauguration is the conclusion of a decades-long campaign to pull India away from the secular roots upon which the country was founded following independence.
The temple was built on the site once occupied by the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by violent Hindu mobs in 1992.