Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the much-awaited Ram temple in Ayodhya, in a political triumph for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) most popular leader, who is seeking re-election in this year’s parliamentary elections, due before May.
The temple fulfilled a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus who worship the revered deity and extol him for the virtues of truth, sacrifice and ethical governance.
The BJP, which seized on the demand, has portrayed the Ram temple as central to its vision of reclaiming Hindu pride, which it says was suppressed by centuries of Mughal rule and British colonialism.
Mr Modi and his ruling BJP hope that opening the Ram temple in India’s most populated state Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha (lower house) seats, will help catapult the prime minister to a record third successive term in power. But, with the temple still under construction, critics have accused Mr Modi of a hurried opening to woo voters.
Mr Modi, dressed in a traditional kurta tunic, led the opening ceremony as Hindu priests chanted hymns inside the temple’s inner sanctum.
A conch was blown by a priest to mark the temple’s opening and Mr Modi placed a lotus flower in front of the black stone Ram Lalla idol, decked in intricate gold ornaments and holding a golden bow and arrow. He later prostrated before the idol.
Nearly 7,500 people, including elite industrialists, politicians and movie stars, witnessed the ritual on a giant screen outside the temple as an Indian Air Force helicopter showered flower petals.
Mr Modi, who last week said god had chosen him to represent all Indians at the opening of the temple, shared a video of his entrance into the temple – carrying offerings for Lord Ram – on social media site X.
“It reinforces his (Mr Modi’s) image as ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’, or the King of Hindu Hearts,” said journalist and political commentator Neerja Chowdhury.
“The construction of the temple will be a big issue for them (Hindu voters) not because the Ram temple has been built decades after the BJP launched the movement, but because Narendra Modi got it built. It is as much about Modi as it is about the Ram temple. No other government could get it done, but this tough, strong leader has got it done,” she said.
Political analysts and critics see Monday’s ceremony as the beginning of the election campaign for Mr Modi. According to them, the pomp-filled display shows the extent to which the line between religion and state has eroded under Mr Modi, Associated Press reported.
Indo-Asian News Service
