{"id":51436,"date":"2024-01-23T14:56:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T14:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/hindus-throng-indias-ram-temple-as-it-opens-for-public-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T14:56:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T14:56:07","slug":"hindus-throng-indias-ram-temple-as-it-opens-for-public-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/hindus-throng-indias-ram-temple-as-it-opens-for-public-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindus throng India’s Ram temple as it opens for public | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nAYODHYA:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of Hindus braved biting cold on Tuesday to pray at a new temple to Lord Ram in India’s northern city of Ayodhya, a day after its inaugural by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a site believed to be the god-king’s birthplace.<\/p>\n

Hindu groups, Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates have portrayed the opening as part of a Hindu renaissance.<\/p>\n

“I was adamant about this … I will only leave after I have seen my Lord Ram,” one of the visitors, Guddu Shukla, who queued at the temple gate at 4 a.m. in temperatures of about 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit), told news agency ANI.<\/p>\n

He was among more than 50,000 devotees who lined up before dawn on Tuesday to enter the temple, among some 200,000 who arrived in the city after the consecration, said a government official, Murli Dhar Singh.<\/p>\n

The site was bitterly contested for decades by Hindus and minority Muslims, sparking nationwide riots in 1992 that killed 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, police say, after a Hindu mob destroyed the 16th-century mosque there.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hindus say the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, and was holy to them long before Muslim Mughals razed a temple at the spot to build the Babri Masjid, or mosque, in 1528.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court handed the land to Hindus in 2019, ordering that Muslims be given a separate plot.<\/p>\n

“Devotees inside are hugging the temple walls and crying,” said a worshipper from central India, who did not give his name.<\/p>\n

“If you are a true follower of Hindu tradition, you’ll have tears in your eyes, because that idol represents the 500-year long struggle.”<\/p>\n

Read:\u00a0India’s Modi leads consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Police on social media urged people to stay away from the temple area because of the large crowds there and diversions on the route.<\/p>\n

Analysts say the temple inauguration is expected to boost Modi’s effort to secure a third term in general elections due by May.<\/p>\n

Celebrations were held on Monday across the nation, where Hindus form most of a population of about 1.42 billion, after Modi’s call to treat the day like Diwali, the festival of lights, which marks Ram’s return to Ayodhya in Hindu mythology.<\/p>\n

Muslims, who plan to begin building a new mosque in the city in May, have signalled they have moved on from the dispute, saying the temple was built following court orders and they bear no ill-will.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AYODHYA: Tens of thousands of Hindus braved biting cold on Tuesday to pray at a new temple to Lord Ram in India’s northern city of Ayodhya, a day after its inaugural by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a site believed to be the god-king’s birthplace. Hindu groups, Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Hindu-devotees-Ayodhya-India1706013989-0\/Hindu-devotees-Ayodhya-India1706013989-0.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t