Modi set to open controversial Ayodhya Hindu temple, keeping decades-old vow

NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to open a Hindu temple where a centuries-old mosque once stood in the northern town of Ayodhya.

In doing so, he will achieve a pledge made by his nationalist party in 1990. The move is now aimed at reinvigorating his base ahead of elections in 2024. 

The first phase of the Ram Temple will be completed in December and will open to devotees in January 2024, an official said on Thursday.

Mr Modi, 72, is expected to preside over the installation of the god Ram’s idol at the temple.

The site was bitterly contested for years, with both Hindus and Muslims laying claim to it.

Hindus say it was the birthplace of Lord Ram and was holy to them long before Muslim Mughals built the Babri mosque there in 1528.

A Hindu mob destroyed the mosque in 1992.

That incident triggered riots that killed about 2,000 people across India, most of them Muslims.

The Supreme Court handed custody of the religious site to Hindus in 2019.

It paved the way for the construction of a Hindu temple, a plan long supported by Mr Modi’s ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The ceremonies to move the idol to the temple start on Jan 14 and are likely to take 10 to 12 days,” Mr Nripendra Misra, chairman of the temple construction committee, told reporters. 

The construction of the temple and the surrounding complex, slated to be completed in 2025, is estimated to cost 15 billion rupees (S$245.9 million), said Mr Misra.

The temple alone costs six billion rupees, he added.  

It is a full political circle for Mr Modi, who in 1990 was one of the main organisers of a nationwide push to build a Hindu temple to replace a mosque on the site.

That campaign marked the emergence of his party as a national electoral force. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS