Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took centre stage Wednesday at a ceremony for the foundation of a Hindu temple at a flashpoint site that has sparked some of India’s worst sectarian violence.
The new temple in Ayodhya will be built on the ruins of a mosque destroyed by a mob of Hindu zealots in 1992, which triggered a wave of religious violence that left around 2,000 people dead across India.
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Flowers are kept by supporters of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a right-wing Hindu organisation, on a pot filled with sacred soil and water from various Hindu holy spots, before being taken for the ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya, during a press conference in New Delhi on July 24, 2020. (Photo by PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wave party flags as they arrive a day before the groundbreaking ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple, in Ayodhya on August 4, 2020. (Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP via Getty Images)
A Hindu devottee performs a ritual infront of the idols of Lord Rama during a special prayer in Kolkata on August 4, 2020, on the eve of the groundbreaking ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya. (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Shilpa Bhatt, 40, an entrepreneur and manufacturer-supplier of chocolates gives finishing touches to the model of Ram temple of Ayodhya on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on August 4, 2020. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Hindu devotees light earthen lamps on the banks of the River Sarayu on the eve before the groundbreaking ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 4, 2020.(Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP via Getty Images)
Banners with the images of (L-R) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lord Ram and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath are seen along the banks of the River Sarayu on the ever before the groundbreaking ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 4, 2020.(Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP via Getty Images)
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists dance before the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhaya, at VHP headquarters in New Delhi on August 5, 2020.(Photo by PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists and supporters shout slogans as they celebrate before the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhaya, in New Delhi on August 5, 2020. (Photo by MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images)
Workers erect a large poster of Hindu Lord Ram on the roof of a service station in Vadodara, Gujarat, on August 5, 2020, to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
People wave India's Prime Minister's convoy arrives outside Hanuman Gadhi temple before the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020. (Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP via Getty Images)
Workers of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), shout slogans and hold cut-out words reading 'Jai Shri Ram' (Glory to Lord Ram) as they celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhaya, at the Ram Tirath Temple in Amritsar on August 5, 2020. (Photo by NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images)
People from the Hindu and Muslim communities celebrate around a 7-feet tall statue of Lord Ram the foundation stone of a Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, in Pune on August 5, 2020. (Photo by SANKET WANKHADE/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) hold placards and shout slogan against the ground breaking ceremony of a Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, in Chennai on August 5, 2020. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) celebrate beside a statue of Lord Ram the ground breaking ceremony of a Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, in Chennai on August 5, 2020. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) watch a live telecast on a screen of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) participating in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhaya, at the Gujarat BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar on August 5, 2020. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)
