JOIN USHow foreign media covered Ayodhya Ram Temple ceremony
The grand inauguration of the construction of the Ram temple, or the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ in Ayodhya, is seen as one of the most high-profile events in the recent history of independent India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a silver brick as a symbolic beginning to the construction of the temple. Celebrations erupted across the globe with hymn-chanting in famous temples of India and also at the Times Square, in New York, where images of Lord Ram were beamed across billboards.
Along with wall-to-wall coverage of the event by the Indian media, several foreign news organisations have also chipped in to contextualise the grand event for the global audience.
Here is how foreign media covered the event:
“Diwali has come early to the temple town of Ayodhya,” wrote UK’s Guardian. The festival of Diwali, celebrated by millions of Hindu devotees, which is still months away, is likened to the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ in Ayodhya. The preparations in Ayodhya included a cleaning drive, followed by murals of Lord Ram painted across the town which is glowing from the earthen lamps. The foundation of the Hindu temple “ranks as perhaps the most emotionally intense, discordant, and divisive issue in Indian politics for decades,” the Guardian wrote.
The long history of the temple site began as a legal dispute and later snowballed into the most politically and culturally charged issue of independent India. The BBC described the century-old dispute as “one of India's thorniest court cases, with the legal battle playing out over decades.”
Albeit celebrations across the world, foreign media was quick to point out the incidental significance of the day. August 5 marks one year of abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Kashmir.
Several other foreign media continue to remain critical of the Modi-led BJP’s “Hindu nationalist agenda.” According to CNN, the construction of the temple is a “blow” to the country’s 200 million-strong Muslim community.