Photos: India’s divisive new temple saw half a million visitors on its first day open to the public

Half a million people entered the new Ram Mandir on Tuesday, a controversial Hindu temple in the holy town of Ayodhya that is built on the ruins of a destroyed 16th century mosque.

Half a million people entered the new Ram Mandir on Tuesday, a controversial Hindu temple in the holy town of Ayodhya that is built on the ruins of a destroyed 16th century mosque. Huge crowds of devotees queued outside the temple in the early hours of the morning carrying saffron flags and religious offerings on the first day the large complex was open to the public. A day earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, in the building’s inner sanctum in a ceremony widely seen as a landmark departure from India’s secular foundations post-independence. Every pillar and wall of the temple’s exterior was decorated with flowers and religious Hindu motifs. Heavy security surrounded the complex, with visitors required to go through checks before entering the building. Half a million people thronged the temple on the first day, according to the Uttar Pradesh Information and Public Relations Department. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to visit in the coming days and weeks.