Why India's Ram temple is so controversial

THE INAUGURATION OF a vast temple dedicated to Lord Ram, one of Hinduism's most revered deities, on Jan. 22 has set India on edge once again.

- YASMEEN SERHAN

The temple in the city of Ayodhya sits where a centuries-old mosque once stood before it was destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992, setting off sectarian violence that claimed 2,000 lives. What Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heralded as the beginning of a "new era," others saw as a Hindu-nationalist spectacle.