Why a half-finished temple is the symbol of Modi’s Hindu nationalist India 

On January 22, the city of Ayodhya, in the huge northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, will host a ceremony to mark the opening of a still unfinished temple. It is difficult to understate the significance of this day as the culmination of a 30-year project that has made Hindu nationalism the dominant political and ideological force in India. And from a personal point of view, the narrative around the events on January 22 represents the capture of the mainstream Indian media by the government, the collective choice to toe the party line rather than inform the public. But first, some background.

In 1992, thousands of activists from a number of Hindu supremacist groups tore down the Babri Masjid, a mosque that had stood in Ayodhya since the 16th century. Its demolition was the product of campaigning that began to gain momentum around 1989. The Hindu groups claimed that the mosque had been built over a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama, hero of the Ramayana, one of the two great Hindu epics. Many Hindus celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, as the day Rama returned to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile, having rescued his wife Sita and defeated her abductor, the 10-headed demon king Ravana. Rama, in Hindu tradition, embodies righteousness — his victory over Ravana is the victory of good over evil.

The campaign thrust the Bharatiya Janata Party into the national consciousness as a viable political force. In 1984, the BJP had only two seats in India’s 543-seat lower house of parliament. By 1991, on the back of the campaign to restore the supposed site of Rama’s birth to Hindus, the BJP — the political expression of Hindu supremacy — won 120 seats. And by 1999, the BJP had enough seats to form government, though it was voted out of power five years later. 

Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP now controls 303 seats and has governed India for the last decade. This is an election year in India and it is widely expected that Modi will win a third consecutive five-year term in May. The new Rama temple, even if only half built, is symbolic of the BJP’s hold over Indian politics, both electoral and cultural. And such is the strength of Modi’s self-possession that it is possibly also symbolic of Modi’s triumph over all opposition.