India’s Modi calls opening of controversial Hindu temple ‘a new era’

The opening of the Hindu temple that was built on the ruins of a razed historic mosque is a political triumph for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a controversial Hindu temple Monday that was built on the ruins of a razed historic mosque — a political triumph for the populist leader who is seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state.

The temple, dedicated to Hinduism’s Lord Ram, sits on a site in the northern city of Ayodhya where Hindu mobs tore down a mosque three decades ago. Its fraught history is still an open wound for many Muslims, who have increasingly come under attack by Hindu nationalist groups. Some see the temple as the biggest example yet of the rise of Hindu supremacy under Modi’s tenure.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu nationalist groups have portrayed the temple’s consecration as central to their vision of reclaiming Hindu pride, which they say was suppressed during centuries of Mogul rule and British colonialism.

He and his party hope that opening the temple — which millions of Hindus who worship the deity had demanded — will help catapult the prime minister to a record third successive term in elections expected this spring.

But with the temple still under construction, critics accuse Modi of a hurried opening to woo voters.

And analysts say the pomp-filled display led by the government marks a key moment in India’s history, showing the extent to which the line between religion and state has eroded under Modi. That distinction was seen by India’s founding fathers as crucial to maintaining the country’s communal cohesion.

On Monday, the prime minister, dressed in a traditional kurta tunic, led the opening ceremony as Hindu priests chanted hymns inside the temple’s inner sanctum, where a 1.3-meter (4.3-foot) stone sculpture of Lord Ram was installed last week. A priest blew a conch to mark the temple’s opening, and Modi placed a lotus flower in front of the black stone statue, decked in intricate gold ornaments and holding a golden bow and arrow. He later prostrated before it.

Nearly 7,500 people, including elite industrialists, politicians and movie stars, witnessed the ritual on a giant screen outside the temple as a military helicopter showered flower petals.