New Delhi: The much-awaited Pran Pratistha of Ram Lalla was held in Ayodhya today, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the rituals in the newly built magnificent temple. PM Modi unveiled the idol of Ram Lalla in the sanctum sanctorum at the temple.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also present.
While this was a historic event in India, the grand consecration ceremony was also covered by global media such as BBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, and CNN.
Here's How Foreign Media Covered The Event:
Modi Opens A Giant Temple, A Triumph Toward A Hindu-First India- The New York Times
The New York Times called the inauguration of the Ram Temple a "moment of triumph for Hindu nationalists", but added that the temple had also "reinforced a sense of despair and dislocation" for the country's 200 million Muslims.
NYT referred to PM Modi as "the omnipresent leader" and claimed that the prime minister had mixed religion and politics and tapped into the vast resources at his service. By doing so, the report said, PM Modi has achieved what his predecessors could not: "turning a diverse and argumentative Indian society into something resembling a monolith that falls in line behind him. To question him is to question Hindu values. And that is akin to blasphemy."
The report claimed that the "opening of the temple, built over 70 acres at a cost of nearly $250 million, marks the unofficial start of Mr. Modi’s campaign for a third term, in an election expected in the spring."
Ayodhya Ram Mandir: India PM Modi Inaugurates Hindu Temple On Razed Babri Mosque Site - BBC
UK-based BBC said that the new Ram temple replaces a "16th-century mosque razed by Hindu mobs in 1992."
The UK's national broadcaster said that while thousands of guests, including film stars and cricketers, attended the event in Ayodhya, some "Hindu seers and most of the opposition boycotted it, saying Modi was using it for political gains."
"General elections are due in India in the next few months and Mr Modi's political rivals say the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be seeking votes in the temple's name in a country where 80% of the population is Hindu," BBC wrote.
Modi Inaugurates Hindu Temple On Site Of Razed Mosque In India- The Guardian
The Guardian in its report said "More than three decades after a mob of militant Hindu radicals razed a mosque to the ground in the Indian town of Ayodhya," the country’s prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "new Hindu temple that will stand in its place."
The report claimed that the "demolition of the mosque in 1992 paved the way for Hindu nationalism to become the dominant political force it is today, and the pledge to build a Ram Temple in Ayodhya has been at the core of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party’s (BJP) political agenda to establish Hindu supremacy in India."
Modi’s Consecration Of Controversial Hindu Temple Caps Years-Long Campaign- Washington Post
The Washington Post claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by inaugurating the Ram Temple, marked not just a personal political victory but a triumph of his Hindu nationalist ideology over the "secular, multicultural vision espoused by India’s founding fathers."
"The story of the controversial Ram Temple traces the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement, its most prominent political wing, the BJP, and their effort to make India into a religious state," the report stated.
Washington Post claimed that the religious festivities backed by the state "show just how far India under Modi has diverged from the vision of those who struggled for freedom like Mohandas K. Gandhi, a defender of minority rights who often pleaded for the safety of his Muslim compatriots when Hindu-Muslim riots erupted."
Modi Hails A New ‘Divine India’ As He Inaugurates Controversial Hindu Temple Ahead Of Election- CNN
CNN in its report said the "Ram Mandir is the realization of Modi’s dream to create what he has called a new India, which many consider to be the transformation of the country into a distinctly Hindu nation."
CNN said that for Modi’s detractors, the temple’s inauguration "is the conclusion of a decades-long campaign to pull India away from the secular roots upon which the country was founded following independence."