New Delhi (Reuters): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated one of the holiest Hindu temples and his government has been spending millions of dollars to develop many others, boosting tourism and his appeal among the majority community ahead of elections. Apart from a $6 billion makeover of the northern city of Ayodhya, where Modi opened the first phase of a Ram Temple, the federal government has spent nearly $120 million to develop dozens of Hindu pilgrimage sites in the past decade, according to government data, and more funding is planned. The Ram Temple, built on the site of

Nagaon, Jan 21 (PTI): High drama prevailed in Assam’s Haiboragaon on Monday after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not allowed by authorities to visit the Sri Sri Sankar Dev Satra temple in Bordua near here. Gandhi, along with other Congress leaders, was stopped at Haiboragaon and not allowed to proceed further. The former Congress chief was scheduled to pay obeisance to the local deity before starting his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Monday. Mahila Congress leaders subsequently sat on a dharna to protest against denial of permission to Gandhi to visit the temple. The former Congress chief also joined the

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. The construction, begun in 2020, had been a contentious issue as the temple stands on the site of a 16th century mosque demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly minority Muslims. WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF THE NEW TEMPLE? Modi laid the foundation stone of the temple to one of Hinduism’s principal deities on a 2.7-acre (one-hectare)