The location where the temple was built was hotly debated over the years, with both Hindus and Muslims claiming the location.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The first phase of construction of the Ram temple in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya will be completed in December and it will open to devotees in January, an official said on Thursday.
Hindus say the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram and was considered sacred to them long before Mughal Muslims built the Babri Mosque there in 1528. Hindu mobs destroyed the mosque in 1992, sparking protest riots that saw around 2,000 people died all over India, most of them Muslims.
India’s Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019, paving the way for the construction of a Hindu temple, a project long supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.
Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi temple construction committee, told reporters that Modi was invited to take part in prayers at the opening ceremony.
“The ground floor (of the temple) will be completed by December 2023 and once it is complete and God resides in the temple, we will have to allow devotees to come and pray,” Mr Misra.
“Twitter junkie. Hipster-friendly bacon expert. Beer ninja. Reader. Communicator. Explorer. Passionate alcohol geek.”
