The completion of the Ram Mandir and the Dhwāj-Arohan ceremony has reignited deep emotions in Ayodhya, blending devotion with decades of political and communal tension.
While many Hindus see the temple’s rise as long-awaited fulfilment, many Muslim and older residents feel displaced, physically, culturally and emotionally, amid Ayodhya’s rapid transformation into a saffron-branded temple town.
Under the glossy saffron signboards and LED-lit facades lies a troubling contradiction in the city.
As the saffron flag fluttered high atop Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya on November 25, 2025, the town once again found itself at the centre of a story as ancient as memory and as contemporary as politics.
The ceremonious Dhwāj-Arohan marked the formal completion of the Ram Mandir complex, a milestone decades in the making and rekindled the fierce, layered emotions related to the sacred land. What stands completed now is not merely stone and mortar but the culmination of a saga of faith, conflict, longing, identity and reinvention.
While hoisting the flag, PM Narendra Modi said: “Today, the city of Ayodhya is witnessing another turning point in India’s cultural consciousness. This moment of flag hoisting celebration at the pinnacle of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple is unique. Siyawar Ramchandra ki Jai,” Mr. Modi said, after hoisting the triangular saffron flag, 10 feet high and 20 feet long, bearing the image of a radiant sun symbolising Lord Ram’s valour, an ‘Om’ symbol, and the Kovidara tree.
For many believers, November 25, 2025 fulfilled a dream half a millennium old: the restoration of a temple at the place revered as the mythical birthplace of Lord Rama. The temple stands where a 16th-century mosque, Babri Masjid, once stood, which was demolished in 1992 in a brutal act of violence that triggered nationwide riots and polarized the country’s religious landscape.
Yet, while for many Hindu devotees the temple is a sanctified redemption, for many Muslim residents it carries a bitter residue. Under the glossy saffron signboards and LED-lit facades lies a troubling contradiction in the city. Many residents, particularly Muslim families and older Hindu households, feel the city is shedding layers of its old, pluralistic character.
In its February 1, 2024 issue, In The Name Of Ram, Outlook looked at the past, present and future of the Ram Jambhoomi movement.
Tanul Thakur showed how the new Ayodhya, remodelled as a glitzy temple town, exudes celebratory spirit and promises limitless development.
With this, Vikram Raj compiled a historical photo-series on all the development and controversies around the mandir movement.
Meanwhile Rakhi Bose presents strong perspectives from the Muslims of Ayodhya and how they look at living in peace amidst the fanfare.
Snigdhendu Bhattacharya deep dives on the development of a Hindu Rashtra and looks at a decade of the Hindu Rashtra conferences in Goa.
Abhik Bhattacharya interviews Joshimath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who accused the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust secretary, Champat Rai, of dividing Hindu society in the name of sects.
Politician and former Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam pens a piece on the ‘Ramaisation’ of Indian politics.
Social and political commentator Balbir Punj narrates the account of Abdul Barkat, a Muslim policeman, who was posted in Ayodhya when idols of Ram were claimed to have ‘emerged’ at the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babari Masjid site in 1949.
Valay Singh, author of ‘Ayodhya: City Of Faith, City Of Discord’ sheds light on the many histories of the city of Ayodhya.
