Stealing from the gods: India’s Ram Temple hit by corruption scandal
Key takeaways
- The temple is mired in embezzlement allegations before crucial state elections, embarrassing PM Modi's government.
- Over decades, the 65-year-old has seen the once-sleepy town metamorphose into the biggest flashpoint of the Hindu majoritarian movement, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- Two and a half years ago, Modi presided over the consecration ceremony of the new temple, devoted to the Hindu god Ram.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The temple is mired in embezzlement allegations before crucial state elections, embarrassing PM Modi's government.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Hindu devotees take photos of a Ram statue inside the temple after its inauguration in Ayodhya, India, on January 22, 2024 [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]By Yashraj Sharma and Mohammad Sartaj Alam Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026New Delhi, India – Brajesh Kumar climbs three floors every evening to sit in solitude on the rooftop terrace of his house overlooking the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh.
Over decades, the 65-year-old has seen the once-sleepy town metamorphose into the biggest flashpoint of the Hindu majoritarian movement, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Where the temple stands used to be the site of the 16th-century Babri Mosque, but in 1992 a Hindu mob tore it down, sparking religious riots that killed nearly 2,000 people across the country, mostly Muslims.