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☆ In a single Delhi house, several hundred years of Indian history
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Aishwarya S Iyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And then there was Chandni Chowk, built as a part of Emperor Shah Jahan’s new capital Shahjahanabad - or Old Delhi as it later became. His ancestor, he says, was appointed the first municipal commissioner of Old Delhi. Knotting history and faithIt isn’t only multiple eras of history that intertwine here in this sliver of Old Delhi. Originally built in the 1600s, the temple was renovated with red sandstone in 1878, giving it the nickname the Red Temple. Rickshaw pullers rest along a street in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, India on August 6, 2023.

Persons: Chandni Chowk, Emperor Shah Jahan, Ajay Parshed, Parshed, Chandni, ”, Chunna Mal, Aishwarya S, Iyer, he’s, “, ” Parshed, Khan, Jama, Emperor Shah Jahan’s, Chunna, “ Chunna Mal, Jain, Gauri Shankar, who’ve, Rameen Khan, ” Khan, Sheetal Saxena, Shiva, Pradeep Dambarage, Nader Shah, Dilip Saxena, Saxena, “ Will Organizations: CNN, Mahal, Central Baptist Church Locations: Delhi, Chandni, Agra, British, Old Delhi, ”, Chandni Chowk, India, Golden, “

☆ Pink, peacock-populated, possibly possessed Pakistani palace
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

AP —Stained glass windows, a sweeping staircase and embellished interiors make Mohatta Palace a gem in Karachi, a Pakistani megacity of 20 million people. The palace sits on prime real estate in the desirable neighborhood of Old Clifton, among mansions, businesses and upmarket restaurants. The land under buildings like the Mohatta Palace is widely coveted, said palace lawyer Faisal Siddiqi. Mohatta Palace is a symbol of that diversity. “I’m from Bahawalpur (in Punjab, India) where we have the Noor Mahal palace, so I wanted to look at this one.

Persons: there’s, Faisal Siddiqi, Heba Hashmi, Shivratan Mohatta, Fatima Jinnah, Pakistan’s, Shirin, Nasreen Askari, ”, “, don’t, Ahmed Tariq, “ I’m, It’s, Askari, ” Hashmi Organizations: Foreign Ministry Locations: Karachi, Pakistani, Rajasthan, Old Clifton, Lahore, Mughal, ”, Mohatta, Jodhpur, India, Pakistan, Bahawalpur, Punjab, It’s

☆ India’s ‘godmen’: How a rigid caste system has created a new kind of deity
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The man they had come to see was known to his disciples as Bhole Baba, a self-styled Hindu spiritual leader worshipped by many as a living god. “My mother believed in (Bhole Baba). What could I do?”People like Lal’s mother – poor and on the lower rungs of India’s hierarchical caste system – make up the bulk of Bhole Baba’s following. Claiming to possess mystical knowledge and the ability to cure illness and solve problems, godmen inspire remarkable fervor in their millions of followers. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of the spiritual organization Dera Sacha Sauda, is another self-styled spiritual guru revered by millions.

Persons: –, Bhole Baba, ”, “, Meera Nanda, Sakib Ali, Subhash Lal, Lal, Narayan Sakar, Kalyani, Sheetal, Bhole, Jatav, Sathya Sai Baba, Ravi Shankar, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Sacha Sauda, Parveen Kumar, Singh, ” Nanda, Asaram Bapu, Sunil Verma, Sai, Goldie Hawn, Isaac Tigrett, Sachin Tendulkar, Manmohan Singh, Surendra Singh, Narayan Sakar Hari resound, Aishwarya S, Iyer Organizations: CNN, Hindustan Times, Uttar, Uttar Pradesh Police, Azim Premji University, ” Miracle, Pacific Press, Rock Locations: India’s Uttar Pradesh, India, Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, Garhi, India’s, Bangalore, ”, Bole, Gurugram

☆ Indian wedding industry: Elephants, Michelin stars and Mughal jewels make it a $130 billion business
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Indian wedding industry has boomed since the country emerged from the pandemic. “And this is irrespective of the economic classes.”At about $15,000, the average Indian wedding costs more than three times the average annual household income. Indian weddings are often spread across several days, with an average guest list of 326, compared with 115 in the United States, according to The Knot Worldwide. Rihanna, couture and emeraldsThe average luxury Indian wedding can cost anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000, according to Jefferies. No luxury Indian wedding is complete without lavish meals, which at times involves flying in Michelin star chefs and the finest of ingredients from across the world.

Persons: Anant Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Mukesh Ambani’s, Tim Chi, Nita, Anant, Sujit Jaiswal, it’s, Jefferies, ” Jefferies, Nasir Kachroo, ”, Sima Taparia, Aditya Motwane, Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas, “, you’ve, Ambani’s, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Rihanna, Motwane, —, Stringer, Knight Frank, Tina Tharwani, Nita Ambani, Olivier Polet, Tharwani, Virat, Vanessa Almeida, Almeida, videographers, Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Rafiq Maqbool, Narendra Modi, ” Modi Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Silicon, CNN, Getty, Netflix, Motwane Entertainment, Shaadi, Michelin, Backstreet Boys Locations: New Delhi, Radhika Merchant . India, India, Mumbai, AFP, South Asia, Jammu, Kashmir, United States, Indian, Jamnagar, Monte Carlo, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Florence, Indian Italian, Tuscany, Goa, Italian, Genoa

CNN —Eyewitnesses have recounted scenes of chaos and confusion after a religious festival in northern India ended in tragedy when scores of people were killed in a crowd crush. At least 121 people died – almost all of them women – and 35 others were injured when overcrowding at a sermon in Mughal Garhi village in Uttar Pradesh led to the deadly crush on Tuesday. Speaking to CNN from a local hospital, a security guard named Subhash Lal said his mother had died in the crush. Ritesh Shukla/Getty ImagesPersonal belongings of victims who died in the crush are seen scattered at the venue in Uttar Pradesh. “I was told to go to the district hospital and here I found her body.”Uttar Pradesh has launched a special investigative team to probe the deadly crowd crush, the state’s chief minister announced on Wednesday.

Persons: –, Bhole Baba, godman, Subhash Lal, “, ” Lal, Ritesh Shukla, Kamala, Rekha, ”, Yogi Adityanath, Adityanath, Anushree Fadnavis, Bhole Baba –, Suraj Pal – Organizations: CNN, . Police, Reuters, Reuters Police Locations: India, Garhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh’s, Hathras district, Anushree

New Delhi CNN —A crowd crush at a religious gathering in northern India killed more than a hundred people Tuesday, mostly women, in one of the deadliest such incidents the country has seen in recent years. Almost all those killed were women, Singh said earlier, with at least seven children also among the dead. An estimated 80,000 people had been expected to attend the event, where Bhole Baba was giving a sermon. Permission was sought for the event with 80,000 attendees, however a crowd of more than 250,000 devotees gathered, the report said. People there pulled them out,” Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency, according to the Associated Press.

Persons: Bhole Baba, godman, Sandeep Singh, Singh, ” Singh, Anupam Kulshreshtha, Bhole, ”, Shakuntala Devi, General Shalabh Mathur, Narendra Modi, Modi, “ Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Police, State for Education, Local, CNN, “, Press Trust of India, Associated Press, Reuters Locations: New Delhi, India, Garhi, Uttar Pradesh, Hathras district, Agra, Ambala, Etah district, Jammu, Maharashtra

Rights groups are furious the Taliban meeting is going ahead without Afghan women, and say it legitimizes Afghanistan’s leaders and fails to hold them to account for grave injustices. Whatever we had, we spent it,” Arzo’s brother Ahamad, a 27-year-old journalist under threat from the Taliban due to his occupation, told CNN in November. Arzo told CNN what drove her suicide attempt. Pakistan’s policy on “illegal foreigners” is no different to that of other nations, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told CNN. CNNArzo doesn’t want a life like that for herself, her sister, or the women and girls still in Afghanistan.

Persons: ”, Arzo, Javed Iqbal, ” Richard Bennett, Zabihullah Mujahid, “, Richard Bennett, weren’t, – they’ll, They’re, Mahsa, Ahamad, Doctors, Arzo’s, CNN Arzo hadn’t, ” Mahsa, they’ve, can’t, Moniza Kakar, Rain, Kakar, Abbas, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Baloch, hadn’t, ” Amanullah, He’s, Amanullah, he’s, CNN Arzo, Heather Barr, ” Barr, “ It’s, Bennett, she’ll, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Lifeline, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders Worldwide, Pakistan CNN —, United Nations, Human Rights, UN, Security, “ ACC ”, Afghan, ACC, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign, “, Taliban, Human Rights Watch, International Court of Justice, Criminal Court, ICC Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Pakistani, Afghanistan, CNN Pakistan, Doha, Qatar, Afghan, Kabul, Islamabad, –, Soviet, ”, Canada, Israel, Gaza

☆ Move over diamonds, these little-known gemstones are heating up
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Sarah Royce-Greensill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Experts say that this previously overlooked gemstone is rocketing in desirability and value, as collectors look beyond the so-called “Big Four’” (diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires) for more affordable, niche gemstones that may just be a shrewd investment. “Spinels and Paraiba tourmalines have seen a steady increase in demand over the last decade.”Boghossian's paraiba and diamond set features paraibas and fancy yellow diamonds. Experts posit that only one Paraiba tourmaline is mined for every 10,000 diamonds — and while similar hues are found in Madagascar, the scarcity of Brazilian stones has seen prices soar. At Bonhams, Tonkin said prices for top-quality Paraiba tourmalines reached $75,000 per carat in 2022, compared with $4,800 per carat in 2009. “These incredibly vibrant, clean gemstones really stirred something in me,” she explained in an email.

Persons: Olivia Young, Ouroboros, Ruby, Bonhams, ”, Jennifer Tonkin, Rahul Kadakia, Lily Gabriella, ” Charles Abouchar, “, Tonkin, Roberto Boghossian, Moti Ferder, Ferder foresees, Lily Gabriella's, Lily Gabriella Likewise, Minka, Lucy Crowther, ” Crowther, Young Organizations: CNN, Imperial State Crown, Abouchar SA, Lugano Diamonds, Paraiba tourmalines, Big Locations: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, British, Burma, London, Geneva, Paraiba, ” Boghossian's paraiba, paraiba, Brazilian, Madagascar, Bonhams, Paraiba tourmalines, Memphis, India

☆ In India’s Election, Democracy Lives On - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

For decades, Hindu nationalists had sought to build a temple in Ayodhya, at a spot they believe to be the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram. The only problem was that there was already a house of worship on the spot, a mosque built by a Mughal emperor in 1528. A Hindu mob had dismantled the mosque in 1992, setting off riots that killed 2,000 people, most of them Muslims. World leaders sought Modi’s support on issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to the climate crisis, cementing India’s ascent in global affairs. But the ever unpredictable electorate of the world’s largest democracy responded to Modi’s demand for still more power resolutely: No thanks.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Ram, Modi, ” Organizations: Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: India, Ayodhya, China, Ukraine

☆ Modi heads for two days of island meditation as Indian election nears end
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

India’s election is the world’s largest, a mammoth exercise in democracy that has taken place over six weeks. Modi will visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, a pilgrimage site off India’s southernmost tip, from May 30 to June 1, according to Indian state broadcaster DD News. The Vivekananda Rock Memorial was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekananda, who is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock. Toward the end of the 2019 national elections, which he also won, Modi went to meditate in the revered Kedarnath shrine dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Shiva high in the Himalayas. Modi and the BJP have increasingly resorted to overtly Islamophobic language during his recent election speeches.

Persons: CNN —, Narendra Modi, –, Modi, Swami Vivekananda, “ I’m, God, doesn’t, ”, Vivekananda, Shiva Organizations: CNN, CNN — India’s, Vivekananda Rock, NDTV, India, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Maratha Locations: Kanyakumari, Varanasi, Maharashtra, Ayodhya

In the small Bombay theater that showed big films, his father brought him — over and over again — to see the biggest of them all. With every one of his 18 viewings of “Mughal-e-Azam,” a hit 1960 musical about a forbidden romance between a prince and a courtesan, the young boy fell more in love. The rays of light, beamed in black and white, opened to him a world at once majestic and lost. The music swept him to places that only later in life would he fully understand. India, cinema and music — they would all change, too.

Persons: —, ”, Sanjay Leela Bhansali — Organizations: Alankar Talkies Locations: Bombay, Mumbai, India

☆ Islamophobia and India’s election: Rising Hindu nationalism leaves Muslims fearful in India’s holy city
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Rhea Mogul | Will Ripley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

Varanasi, India CNN —The sun glistens on the Ganges as Hindu devotees bathe in the holy river’s waters, and the Muslim call to prayer reverberates through the dusty air. The Gyanvapi mosque, left, and Kashiviswanath Temple on the banks of the river Ganges in Varanasi, India, December 12, 2021. He believes Gyanvapi is not a mosque, but a Hindu temple, and wants to see his community worship inside the walls of the building. Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, the priest of a prominent Hindu temple in Varanasi, believes Modi’s stoking of religious tensions is ruining the fabric of Indian society. This is my country.”Read more from CNN’s India election coverage:Billions spent, jungle-trekking poll workers and voting at 15,000 feet.

Persons: Narendra Modi’s, Modi, Varanasi John Mees, Sana Sabah, trepidation, “, Modi’s, Rajesh Kumar Singh, John Mees, Syed Mohammad Yaseen, ”, Hinduism John Mees, ’, Dileep Patel, inching, Nasir Ali, Ali, ‘ Jai Shree Sri Ram ’, Vijay Bedi, CNN Ali, Muzamil, Usman, it’s, Jai Shree Ram ”, Manish Swarup, Raja Singh, we’ll, Singh, –, Jaiveer Shergill, spokespeople, haven’t, Shamsher Ali, Emperor Aurangzeb, Lord Shiva, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Pawan Kumar, ” Ali, Yaseen, ” Syed Mohammad Yaseen, turbocharge, ” Modi, Ram, Lucas Vallecillos, Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, Gyanvapi, Swami Saraswati, Amit Pandey, Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, ” Mishra, ” Read, Narendra Modi Organizations: India CNN, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, CNN, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Modi, Bhajanpura Police, United Nations, Human Rights, ” CNN, Modi’s, Hate, AP BJP, T, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights, Reuters, Guards, “ Locations: Varanasi, India, Varanasi John, today’s India, “, Hinduism, Jammu, Kashmir, New Delhi, Delhi, Mustafabad, Rajasthan, Jaipur, Gujarat, Washington, BJP, Ali, Kashi, Gyanvapi, John, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

☆ India Court Effectively Bans Madrasas in Big State Before Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

India holds a general election between April and June that Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win. The BJP's Tripathi responded that Muslim BJP leaders had no reason to fear because their community equally benefits from various government welfare programmes. Friday's order applies to all madrasas in the state, whether funded privately or by the government, Javed said. The court did not give a timeline for its order, but Javed said madrasas are unlikely to be closed right away. The northeastern state of Assam, also ruled by the BJP, has been converting hundreds of madrasas into conventional schools.

Persons: Saurabh Sharma, Krishna, Narendra Modi's, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, Subhash Vidyarthi, Vivek Chaudhary, Anshuman Singh Rathore, Rathore, Modi, Ram, Babur, Rakesh Tripathi, madrasas, Sudhanshu Chauhan, Javed, Tripathi, Krishna N, William Mallard Organizations: Das NEW, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Pradesh BJP, madrasas, Das Locations: Das NEW DELHI, India, Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, Pradesh, Assam, New Delhi

☆ You probably missed one of the biggest shows of wealth at the Ambanis' pre-wedding celebration, and it had nothing to do with the bride and groom
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Lauren Edmonds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThere were grandiose displays of wealth at Anant Ambani's pre-wedding celebrations in India, but the mother of the groom-to-be may have stolen the show. Anant is the youngest son of Nita and Mukesh Ambani. Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries. AdvertisementThe Mirror of Paradise ring. Last weekend, Anant personally thanked and praised Nita during a speech for pulling the pre-wedding celebration together.

Persons: —, Anant Ambani's, Anant, fiancée Radhika Merchant, Nita, Mukesh Ambani, Mukesh, Radhika Merchant, Anant Ambani, Rihanna, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Manish Malhotra, that's, Richard Drew, Nita Mukesh Ambani, She's, Mama Organizations: Service, Business, Reliance Industries, GQ India, Bazaar Locations: India, Asia, Mumbai

☆ Twin mosque demolitions in India underscore deep religious polarization months before nationwide election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Rhea Mogul | Aishwarya S Iyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The demolitions drew incensed residents onto the streets and at least six people have been killed in clashes with police. The image of India that Modi wants to project is one of a confident, vibrant, and modern superpower. In India, a country of diverse faiths, religious groups follow their own laws for matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Mohammad Zakir Hussain has said he barely slept since the demolition of his mosque, the madrasa, and his home in India’s capital Delhi. “(The government) rationalizes everything by blaming Mughal emperors,” he said, referring to India’s ancient Islamic rulers.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, Ram, ”, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Imtiyaz Khan, Asaduddin, “, Mukhopadhyay, Mohammed Zakir Hussain, Mohammad Zakir Hussain, Aishwarya Iyer, Sanjay Katyal, Rana Safvi, ” Safvi, ” Mohammad Aman, Mohammad Arif, what’s, Mohammad Aman Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, CNN, Authorities, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Indian, Anadolu, Getty, Amnesty International, Delhi Development Authority, –, Court Locations: New Delhi, India, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, Haldwani, AFP, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India’s, Jammu, Kashmir, BJP, Delhi’s Mehrauli, Akhondji

☆ Modi’s ‘divine India’ vision threatens to marginalize millions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“(Today) is the beginning of a new time cycle,” Modi said at the new temple honoring Hindu deity Lord Ram. “After centuries of waiting, our Ram has arrived.”Modi’s vision of a “divine India” is a far cry from the ideas of the modern country’s founding fathers. “India becomes a de facto Hindu nation, where the task of building national Hindu religious symbols falls to the state. And he reiterated his party’s desire to build the Ram Temple on the contested holy site. Hindu groups have for decades claimed the Mughals destroyed Hindu temples, building mosques and other monuments in their place.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, ” Modi, Lord Ram, “, Ram, ”, Gilles Verniers, officiates, ‘, Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Modi’s, ” Modi fasted, ” Narendra Modi, Prakash Singh, Pratishtha ”, –, Sunita Viswanath, “ Modi, tramples what’s, Ravi Agrawal, it’s, Babar, Douglas E, Curran, ” Agrawal, Ritesh Shukla, Aurangzeb, “ Aurangzeb, Policy’s Agrawal, Gilles Organizations: CNN, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Centre for Policy Research, Bloomberg, Getty, Indian, Human Rights, India’s, Ram Locations: Ayodhya, “, India, New Delhi, Babri, Delhi, India’s, Jammu, Kashmir, South Asia, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Varanasi

☆ Pakistan’s Military Has Swayed Many Elections. Now It’s Going Full Tilt.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tucked away on a patch of dying grass on the outskirts of Islamabad, the gathering hardly looked like a political rally at the height of an election season. There were no posters to promote a campaign, no microphones to deliver speeches, no sound system to amp up the crowd. Even the candidate, Aamir Mughal, was missing: He had gone into hiding months earlier, at the first signs of a military-led crackdown on his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I. The authorities had already raided his home, arrested two of his sons and lodged a case against him in connection with anti-military protests. in the first national election since the party’s leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, ran afoul of the generals and was ousted by Parliament in 2022.

Persons: Aamir Mughal, ” Mr, Mughal, “, Imran Khan Organizations: ” Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan

☆ Modi's Party Set to Bring Contentious Common Civil Laws in India Through States
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

Framing a national common law has been one of the three core, decades-old promises of Modi's Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). The northern state of Uttarakhand, nestled in the Himalayan foothills, is expected to unveil a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill next week, officials said. A committee set up in Uttarakhand in 2022 to draft the code will submit its work to the state government on Friday. "Several state governments across India are looking at whether a uniform civil code could be implemented," Nalin Kohli, a national BJP spokesperson said. Personal laws can be legislated by both federal and state governments, and other BJP-ruled states have said they could use the Uttarakhand UCC draft as a template.

Persons: Krishn Kaushik, Rupam Jain, Saurabh Sharma, Narendra Modi's, Modi's, Asaduddin Owaisi, Nalin Kohli, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Ram, Biswa Sarma, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Sumit Khanna, Jatindra, Lincoln Organizations: Saurabh Sharma NEW DELHI, Janta Party, BJP, UCC, Kashmir, Uttarakhand UCC, Reuters Locations: Indian, Jammu, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, India, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar

☆ Temple Tourism Set to Soar Under India's Modi
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

In comparison, about 9 million people visit Vatican City in a year and about 20 million Mecca. Since Modi inaugurated the Hindu pilgrimage site of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on the banks of the Ganges in 2021 in his constituency of Varanasi, more than 130 million tourists have visited the area, according to government data. With nearly $200 billion in revenue, tourism contributes about 7% of India's economy, which is below most large emerging and developed economies by up to 5 percentage points. The new temple and renovations of many others are likely to greatly boost the electoral prospects of the Hindu nationalist party of Modi, who is widely expected to win a rare third straight term in general elections due by May. Muslims account for about 14% of India's population of 1.42 billion, most of them Hindus.

Persons: Krishna, Narendra Modi, Modi, Lord Ram, Monday's, Modi's, Sandeep Shastri, Krishn Kaushik, Ed Osmond Organizations: Das NEW, Indian, Monday, Jefferies, Analysts, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Ministry Locations: Das NEW DELHI, Ayodhya, Vatican, Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi, India's, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi

☆ Ayodhya temple: India’s Narenda Modi hails a new ‘divine India’ as he inaugurates Ram Mandir ahead of election
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Helen Regan | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

By moving ahead of building the temple, now we all take the oath of building a national, capable, successful, beautiful, and divine India,” Modi said. His promise to build the Ram Mandir helped spur that initial election success. A devotee gets anoint the name of Lord Ram on his forehead ahead of the Inauguration of the Ram Mandir Temple on January 20, 2024 in Ayodhya, India. Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images“I have come here to seek blessings from Lord Ram and Sita, I am very happy today,” she said. “I have come here to seek blessing from Lord Ram, Modi has done so much,” he said.

Persons: Narendra Modi’s, Lord Ram –, Ram, ” Modi, “ Ram, Modi, Lord Ram, Rafiq Maqbool, Pran Pratishtha, Mohan Bhagwat, ”, Yogi Adityanath, Acharya Mohanjodaro Bharadwaj, Babar, Money Sharma, Maulana Badshah Khan, “, ” Khan, weaponizing, Modi “, Modi fasted, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Chandravanshi, Ritesh Shukla, Sita, Lal Singh Khushwa Organizations: CNN, “, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Getty, Human Rights, AP, YouTube Locations: India, India’s Ayodhya, Babri, Ayodhya, Vedika, India's, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, New York, Square, South Asia, Sarayu, New India, US, Tamil Nadu, “, Chhattisgarh

He has ensured this with the Ram Temple,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an expert in Hindu nationalism and author of a book on Modi. Modi’s Hindu nationalist party is expected to once again exploit religion for political gain in the upcoming national elections in April or May and secure power for a third consecutive term. The mosque was demolished by Hindu mobs in December 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. That fraught history is still an open wound for many Muslims, and some say the temple is the biggest political testament yet to Hindu supremacy. Modi has released postage stamps on Ram Temple, and live screenings of the ceremony are planned across the country.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Lord Ram, Modi, ”, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Modi's, ” Mukhopadhyay, “ Modi, Ram, Salam, ” Salam, revivalism —, “ Organizations: DELHI, —, Indian, Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party, Ram, BJP Locations: India, Ayodhya —, Ayodhya, Babri, Gujarat, Babri Mosque, Hindu India

☆ New Mosque Construction in India's Ayodhya to Begin in May, Muslim Group Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The dispute had scarred relations between the communities for decades and the destruction of the mosque sparked nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. India's top court said in 2019 that the razing of the mosque was unlawful, but ruled that evidence showed there was a non-Islamic structure beneath it. It ordered that the site be given to Hindu groups to build a temple and Muslim community leaders be given land elsewhere in the city for constructing a mosque. While construction of the $180 million temple began within months and the first phase is set to open on Monday, Muslim groups have struggled to raise funds and begin work at a desolate site about 25 km (15 miles) away. A crowd-funding website is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, said Shaikh, who is also a BJP leader.

Persons: Shivam Patel, Haji Arfat Shaikh, Ram, Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, Narendra Modi's, Athar Hussain, Shaikh, Muhammed bin Abdullah, Prophet Mohammad, Babur, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: DELHI, Islamic Cultural Foundation, Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, YP Locations: Indian, Ayodhya, India's, India, Babri

☆ Factbox-What Are the Contentious Events Behind India's New Ram Temple?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

(Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a ceremony on Monday to consecrate a grand new temple to the Hindu god-king Ram, delivering on a campaign promise his political party made more than three decades ago. Legal battles ended in 2019 with the Supreme Court deciding to allow a Hindu temple to be built there, on condition that Muslims received another plot to build a mosque. In Dec. 1949, authorities seized the mosque after Hindu activists placed idols of Ram inside the disputed structure. Hindu and Muslim groups tried unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute through talks, before Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a nationwide campaign in 1990 to build the temple. He rode to the office of prime minister in 2014 on a Hindu nationalist platform that included the promise to build the temple.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Ram, Modi, Modi's, Nripendra Misra, Lord Vishnu, Babur, India's, Lal Krishna Advani, Krishn Kaushik, Krishna Das, YP Rajesh, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Reuters, Indian, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, YP Locations: India, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Gujarat

☆ Ayodhya Ram Mandir: A decades long Hindu nationalist dream is about to be achieved. What does this mean?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Ahead of the event, Modi has been fasting and praying in an 11-day ritual steeped in Hindu religious symbolism. But many Hindus believe the Babri Masjid was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple, allegedly destroyed by Babar, the first Mughal emperor of South Asia. The site is significant to them because they believe it’s the birthplace of Lord Ram, now honored with the construction of the new Ram Mandir. Hindu nationalist groups had for years campaigned to demolish the mosque to build a temple in its place. Muslims pray for peace ahead of verdict on a disputed religious site in Ayodhya, inside a mosque premises in Ahmedabad, India, November 8, 2019.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, Lord Ram, ”, ” Modi, Babar, Douglas E, Curran, “, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Amit Dave, “ Young, Asaduddin Owaisi, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Larsen, Toubro Organizations: CNN, country’s, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, YouTube, India’s, AP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Indian National Congress Locations: Indian, Ayodhya, India, Babri, South Asia, Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad

The Ram Mandir's opening Monday would fulfill a decadeslong Hindu nationalist pledge that is expected to resonate with voters during the upcoming national election expected in April or May. The narrow roads have given way to four-lane pilgrim route, including the newly developed 13-kilometer (8-mile) Ram Path leading to the temple. At least two head priests from a Hindu sect have refused to go the opening ceremony, saying consecrating an unfinished temple goes against Hindu scriptures. And volunteers from Modi’s party and other Hindu nationalist groups are going door to door, distributing religious flags and pamphlets. Many others shared Bhatia's feelings about the temple's opening.

Persons: Lord Ram, Hinduism’s, Ram, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Ananya Sharma, ” Sharma, Om Prakash Bhatia, —, marigold, “ Lord Ram, ” Bhatia, “ Jai Sri Ram, ”, “, Gaurav Shourey, ” ___ Banerjee, Piyush Nagpal Organizations: DELHI, Bharatiya Janata Party, Associated Press Locations: India's, Ayodhya, homestays, India, Modi, Indian, New Delhi, vermillion, Lucknow

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