In this northern Indian city once marred by communal tensions, laborers are finalizing a $6 billion infrastructure facelift ahead of the opening of a grand Hindu temple that is igniting an economic boom — which some of Ayodhya's poor and its Muslim community say is passing them by.
City officials expect about 4.5 million tourists a month — more than Ayodhya's entire population of 3 million — once the first stage of the Ram Mandir, as the temple is known, opens on Jan. 22 inside a sprawling complex of carved pink sandstone and white marble.
Ayodhya made international headlines in 1992 when a Hindu mob razed Babri mosque — where the Mandir will stand — saying it had been built on the site of an earlier Hindu temple. The incident spurred nationwide riots that left 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.