India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off a consecration ceremony on Monday for the Ram temple and unveiled a black statue of the Hindu god in the city of Ayodhya, which is believed to be Ram's birthplace.

Modi led the opening ceremony dressed in a traditional kurta tunic, as Hindu priests chanted hymns inside the temple's inner sanctum.

Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set up lavish celebrations across much of the country marking the inauguration. 

The temple is being built on land where a mosque had stood for centuries before being torn down by Hindu nationalists in the 1992, sparking violent protests. 

The prime minister has argued that the event is a bid for reconciliation. 

"The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India," Modi said earlier in January.

In a speech after the ceremony, Modi said the temple opening "marks the dawn of a new era." 

Inauguration marked around India 

The construction of the grand Ram temple cost around €200 million (roughly $217 million). The temple's trust said the construction was funded mostly by private donations. 

The opening is significant for India and for the BJP as it's emblematic of the increasing influence of Hindu-nationalist politics under Modi's government.

Ahead of the opening of the temple, thousands of Hindu devotees danced in packed streets on Sunday in Ayodhya as blaring loudspeakers played hymns and religious songs.

Millions of Indians watched the ceremony on television, with news channels running non-stop coverage of the event.

Some 80 chartered flights have landed at the new international airport in Ayodhya for the partial opening of the temple. 

The ceremony was viewed by nearly 7,500 people — including many prominent politicians, sports and Bollywood celebrities — on a giant screen installed outside the temple as flower petals were showered by a military helicopter.

“It is a matter of great privilege to be part of this divine programme," Modi wrote on X as he participated in the ceremony. 

The temple, which is still under construction, will be opened to the public after the ceremony is over. Authorities estimate that some 100,000 devotees will visit the Ram temple daily.

Controversy surrounding the Ram Temple

The 50-meter high temple has been built on the land where a mosque stood for centuries before it was demolished in 1992 by Hindu groups.

Hindus meanwhile claim that the Babri mosque was in turn built over Lord Ram's birthplace by a 16th-century Muslim emperor.

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated the site in 2019 and reported evidence of a temple having existed there prior to the mosque.

The demolition of the Babri mosque triggered communal riots that claimed more than 2,000 lives — most of them Muslims. 

A protracted legal battle about the ownership of the land followed the mosque's demolition. It was resolved in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled Hindus had the right to build a temple on the site. Muslims were given a plot outside the city to build a mosque.

mfi/wmr (AFP, Reuters)