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Saturday, August 2, 2025
TopicHagia Sophia

Topic: Hagia Sophia

Church, museum & UNESCO heritage site, mosque — Turkey’s Hagia Sophia has been all that & more

Built as a cathedral, it was made a mosque in 1453 by Ottomans. In 1934, it became a museum, but was redisgnated a mosque in 2020. On Saturday ‘taraweeh‘ prayers were held here after 88 years.

Turkey’s Hagia Sophia holds ‘taraweeh’ prayers during Ramadan for first time in 88 years

This comes two years after Turkish President Erdogan made the controversial decision to redesignate the Byzantine-era monument, a former cathedral and museum, into a mosque.

SubscriberWrites: Majoritarianism and religious nationalism unite Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Both in India and Turkey, governments appealed to religious sentiments of the majority to garner public support during times of social and economic distress, writes Tuhin Das.

Let Ayodhya Ram Mandir be a reminder: Indian ancestors died for it, up to us to rebuild

Rebuilding is a civilisational responsibility Indians owe to their ancestors, who were the only ones among all pre-Bronze Age pagans who managed to protect their way of life.

Like Babri case, Hagia Sophia becoming mosque no setback to secular values, says Turkish envoy

Turkey is set to convert the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The envoy said the highest court’s ruling in the case is similar to Ayodhya verdict.

Erdogan’s Turkey is on Pakistan-Indonesia track. Mixing military greed and radical Islam

By changing Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Recep Erdogan is overturning the brute modernity imposed under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's rule.

If the Supreme Court of India was deciding on Hagia Sophia, this is what it would have said

The Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi case provides a template to imagine how the Supreme Court of India would have probably decided on the status of Turkey’s Hagia Sophia.

Indian secularism still has a future if followers stop blame game with RSS: Rajmohan Gandhi

Yogendra Yadav's understanding of Abhay Dubey's book on Indian secularism is indisputable. But let's not forget that secularism forced even RSS to accept lower-caste Hindus.

How Erdogan’s Hagia Sophia mosque move erases Ataturk’s stamp on Turkey

With Hagia Sophia being reconverted to a mosque, which had been secularised by Ataturk in 1934, President Erdogan can drop the pretence of upholding Ataturk’s legacy.

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