Hindus throng Ram temple in India's Ayodhya as it opens to the public

AYODHYA, India — Tens of thousands of Hindus braved biting cold on Tuesday (Jan 23) 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 its affiliates have portrayed the opening as part of a Hindu renaissance after past centuries of subjugation by Muslim invaders and colonial powers.

"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 4am (6.30 am Singapore time) in temperatures of about eight degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit), told news agency ANI.

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.

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.

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.

The Supreme Court handed the land to Hindus in 2019, ordering that Muslims be given a separate plot.

"Devotees inside are hugging the temple walls and crying," said a worshipper from central India, who did not give his name.

"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."

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