Ayodhya prepares for Modi to lay foundation stone of Hindu temple at disputed site | The Guardian

New shrine to Lord Ram where mosque was torn down in 1992 marks culmination of a sustained political campaign by the BJP Diwali has come early to the temple town of Ayodhya. Though the Hindu festival is three months away, the town has been lit up by earthen lamps for the laying of the foundation stone of a Hindu temple that ranks as perhaps the most emotionally intense, discordant, and divisive issue in Indian politics for decades.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend a ceremony in the town on Wednesday, when he will lay a 40kg silver brick at the construction site. He will be watched by priests chanting Vedic hymns, his party’s top brass and the good and great of Indian society. Continue reading…

New shrine to Lord Ram where mosque was torn down in 1992 marks culmination of a sustained political campaign by the BJP

Diwali has come early to the temple town of Ayodhya. Though the Hindu festival is three months away, the town has been lit up by earthen lamps for the laying of the foundation stone of a Hindu temple that ranks as perhaps the most emotionally intense, discordant, and divisive issue in Indian politics for decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend a ceremony in the town on Wednesday, when he will lay a 40kg silver brick at the construction site. He will be watched by priests chanting Vedic hymns, his party’s top brass and the good and great of Indian society.

Continue reading…