Wait of centuries is over, India PM says, as Hindu temple construction begins

Hindu priests and supporters of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist organisation, perform "havan" (traditional Hindu fire ritual) as part of a special prayer for a stone laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in New Delhi, India August 5, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

AYODHYA, India (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched the construction of a Hindu temple on a site that has been contested by Muslims for decades in a dispute that has sparked some of India's most bloody communal violence.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that Hindus, who believe the site in the northern town of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram, a physical incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, be allowed to build a temple there, ending years of litigation..