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Next week, on 22 January, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, will take part in the inauguration of the Ram Mandir, when an idol of Lord Ram, a Hindu deity, will be placed in the temple’s inner sanctum.
Ram Mandir is being built on the site that many Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Ram. It is also where a mosque, Babri Masjid, stood for hundreds of years before being torn down by a Hindu rightwing mob in 1992 after decades of disputes.
Donations for the temple – which will eventually be the third largest in the world – have now exceeded 4tn rupees, according to the trust that is building it.
Thousands of gifts have also been rolling in, including fruit baskets from Nepal and the world’s largest incense stick, created by a farmer in Gujarat. The stick, 33 metres (108ft) long and made from 1,470kg of cow dung, 190kg of ghee and 420kg of herbs, is expected to burn for a month and a half once lit.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/15/divine-moment-or-political-gimmick-india-gears-up-to-inaugurate-huge-hindu-temple
Ram Mandir is being built on the site that many Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Ram. It is also where a mosque, Babri Masjid, stood for hundreds of years before being torn down by a Hindu rightwing mob in 1992 after decades of disputes.
Donations for the temple – which will eventually be the third largest in the world – have now exceeded 4tn rupees, according to the trust that is building it.
Thousands of gifts have also been rolling in, including fruit baskets from Nepal and the world’s largest incense stick, created by a farmer in Gujarat. The stick, 33 metres (108ft) long and made from 1,470kg of cow dung, 190kg of ghee and 420kg of herbs, is expected to burn for a month and a half once lit.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/15/divine-moment-or-political-gimmick-india-gears-up-to-inaugurate-huge-hindu-temple
