New Delhi: The bhoomi pujan or ground-breaking ceremony for the Ram Mandir is set to take place in Ayodhya Wednesday afternoon, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
But the Ram Janmabhoomi movement goes back centuries, and has been mired in politics, controversy, legal issues and violence.
ThePrint looks back at 10 important milestones that led to this point.
1528
Mughal emperor Babar’s commander Mir Baqi builds Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
1949
A mob lays siege to the mosque and places idols of the child Lord Ram, Ram Lalla, under the dome.
Also read: Let Ayodhya Ram Mandir be a reminder: Indian ancestors died for it, up to us to rebuild
1986
A local court orders the government to open the site to Hindu worshippers. Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister when the decision was taken.
1989
BJP officially joins the movement after a former Allahabad HC judge, Deoki Nandan Agarwala, files a title suit on behalf of ‘Ram Lalla Virajman’, the deity placed inside the structure in Ayodhya.
1990
BJP leader L.K. Advani launches a Rath Yatra in support of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya.
6 December 1992
The Babri Masjid is demolished, allegedly by kar sevaks.
1994
The Supreme Court, in the historic Ismail Faruqui judgment, says the Babri Masjid was not integral to Islam.
2010
In a 2:1 majority verdict, Allahabad High Court rules that the disputed land be divided into three parts — one each for the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
2011
Supreme Court stays HC verdict on Ayodhya land dispute after appeals are filed against it.
9 November 2019
Supreme Court delivers its verdict — government-appointed trust to get disputed site for Ram Mandir, Muslims to get another plot.
Also read: How India can prevent another Babri Masjid demolition