Family votes in India’s elections (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
DISPATCH: The birthplace of Lord Ram is a holy site for millions – the Express travelled there as its electorate voted in India’s billion-ballot election.
It is polling day in blistering 44°C Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which means locals get the day off to encourage them to vote.
India is now in phase five of seven as its 2024 Lok Sabha elections reach a climax.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to achieve a historic third term for incumbent PM Narendra Modi, with his main challenger being a coalition of parties known as I.N.D.I.A led by the Indian National Congress.
Adoydhya is home to the recently restored Ram Mandir Temple, a holy Hindu site which is being rebuilt after five centuries.
The site attracted worldwide attention after it was the subject of a drawn-out Supreme Court decision, which eventually ruled in 2019 that the land could be bestowed upon the trust that looks after the Ram Mandir.
On the ground in Ayodhya, locals told us about the riots of 1992, which saw the demolition of the Babri Mosque, which stood on the site of the original Hindu temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram.
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A local Mosque stands just 500 metres away from the Ram Temple (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
However, we did not come across religious tensions on our visit.
“No pilgrim who comes to Ayodhya should leave feeling unwelcome,” chemist Anil Singh, 45, told the Express in one of the many guesthouses that are springing up in the area due to a recent surge in demand.
The construction of the Ram Temple, which is still ongoing, has led to a boom in enterprise and new jobs for the community.
Industrious Indians have converted their homes into B ’n Bs for travelling pilgrims and, in true Indian hospitality style, we were soon invited into one.
Mr Singh said: “Now when people come here they do not want to leave — but before people did not want to come at all.
“When the temple was inaugurated there was no animosity and there was not one incident of violence.”
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The Lord Ram idol (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
In the last year and a half in anticipation of its grand opening the entire town has been redeveloped with brand-new roads.
The beneficiaries of this development will ultimately be those who live there and use the infrastructure day in and day out.
Due to its cultural and religious significance, the town even has its own airport, which was built in just two years — in time for the Ram Temple’s opening in January this year.
Indian PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the temple and now millions of pilgrims are being drawn to it.
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The Ram Temple is still under construction (Image: ANDY COMMINS )
The vast numbers this holy place draws are a testament to what it means to the people of India (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
Huge throngs visit the site every day, and today is especially busy due to the public holiday.
But well-executed crowd-control measures and ample security mean it is a smooth operation and there is no sense of chaos or panic.
The vast numbers this holy place draws are a testament to what it means to the people of India, who are roughly 80% Hindu.
There is a sense inside the temple of elation as worshippers reach the inner sanctum to witness the idol of Lord Ram.
Cries of “Glory to Lord Ram” fill the air as Hindus praise their God.
But this special place is not just restricted to them, with people of all faiths and none welcome at its gates.
Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs brush shoulders here in a way that is quintessentially Indian.
We saw a Sikh, whose religion shares its roots in the Hindu tradition, queuing up to get into the temple.
Huge throngs visit the site every day (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
And leaving the site we were approached by Indian Muslim women who were proud to show us their ink-stained voting finger — a mark to show when a citizen has cast their ballot.
Rumaisa Khatoon, who was clad in a traditional hijab, had left a nearby polling station unaccompanied.
Meanwhile, others posed for photos with their husbands and children.
Raju Jaiswal 43, who has converted his home into a guesthouse for pilgrims, said it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest restoring the Ram Temple had led to increased religious tensions.
A Mosque stands within metres of Mr Jaiswal’s business, which is just 500 metres from the Ram Temple itself.
An Indian woman shows off her inked voting finger after casting her ballot (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
Rumaisa Khatoon, who was clad in a traditional hijab (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
And calls to prayer ring out five times a day in a way that’s indicative of India’s pluralism.
Mr Jaiswal’s neighbour Anil also dismissed the idea of the Ram Temple being restored contributing towards public feelings of fear and unrest.
He said: “Would local Indian media not be talking about it?
“Come and speak to us locally and we will tell you.
“The broadcast media is so diverse in India that correspondents would be here at the drop of a hat if there was any tension here.”
Some 25% of the local population is Muslim and they are supportive of the Ram Temple’s construction, Mr Singh claimed.
He said: “No one has come out to oppose it.”
Ayodhya native Riaz Ahmed, a 28-year-old Muslim taxi driver who rents his vehicle from a Hindu, said he had “never felt” discrimination in his home town.
He said: “Growing up in school and college I never had any issues with classmates.”
Ayodhya native Riaz Ahmed, a 28-year-old Muslim taxi driver (Image: ANDY COMMINS)
Mr Ahmed, who said he only manages to pray three times a day because he is working so hard, has never been stopped from practising his religion.
And he said he was “pleased” the Ram Temple was being built because it meant his Hindu brothers and sisters had something their community had yearned for for so long.
Before travelling back to the airport we stopped at a polling station to witness people voting where, once more, we saw people of all faiths gathering to do their national duty.
Even the stifling 44°C heat could not hold back democracy.
After all, that is what brings all Indians together.
