Two-and-a-half years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Ram, the shrine is embroiled in an unsavoury row over allegations that donations from devotees worth tens of millions of rupees have been embezzled.

The temple in the once-flashpoint city of Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh replaced a 16th-Century mosque torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots in which nearly 2,000 people died.

Since its inauguration in January 2024, the three-storey temple spread over 2.7 acres has become one of India's most important pilgrimage centres, attracting an estimated 50 million visitors annually.

But in recent weeks, questions over the handling of cash, valuable jewellery, gold and silver offered by devotees have triggered a political controversy and petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation by the federal police.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust - an independent trust which manages the shrine - has denied any wrongdoing. The state government has set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the allegations.

Following an interim report from SIT, Ayodhya police registered a case of alleged embezzlement on Thursday, naming eight people.

All eight are in custody and being questioned, senior police officer Gaurav Grover told BBC Hindi. They are expected to be produced before a magistrate within a day or two, he added.

The temple complex, which also includes six smaller shrines, draws 70,000 to 80,000 devotees daily, with crowds tripling on weekends and festivals. Most leave offerings in about 35 donation boxes around the site.

The trust - which collects, sorts and counts the offerings - recorded an annual income of 3.27bn rupees ($35m; £26m) in the financial year 2024-25, making it one of India's largest temples in terms of earnings, the Hindustan Times reported.

A former city legislator has alleged more than 70m rupees ($739,550; £560,420) have gone missing.

The temple trust rejected claims that donations or offerings were improperly handled.

In a video statement on Facebook, its general secretary Champat Rai said the trust's activities, including the process used to count donations and even the counting room, were routinely audited by their trustees and workers along with some State Bank of India employees.

"This work continues for several days. This is what is happening nowadays. No-one has noticed any discrepancy yet," he added.

The allegations of embezzlement at what is considered one of India's most consequential religious sites has made headlines in India. The temple stands on a site that has been at the centre of one of India's most consequential religious, political and legal disputes for decades.

Many Hindus believe Ayodhya to be the birthplace of deity Ram. A vigorous nation-wide campaign spearheaded by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reclaim the land led to the demolition of the Babri mosque by Hindu activists in 1992.

After a long legal battle, the Supreme Court in 2019 awarded the disputed land for the construction of a temple and ordered that alternative land be provided for a mosque.

The dispute shaped Indian politics for decades and became closely associated with the rise of the BJP in the 1990s in a country where 80% of the population is Hindu.

The construction of the temple was one of the main election promises of the BJP and its opening in January 2024 is believed to have contributed to Modi's win in the general election held a few months later.

So even though the temple is managed by an independent trust, opposition parties are demanding answers from Modi and his BJP - which is also in power in the state.

How did the controversy begin?

The alleged irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings made by devotees were first made by Mahipal Singh, who previously supervised the trust's accounts team and is now being called the "whistleblower".

Singh has publicly claimed that he was replaced after he raised concerns internally about the handling of cash offerings and precious metals received as gifts. When contacted by BBC Hindi, Singh refused to talk citing threat to his life.

"I have received death threats. I am under immense pressure and stress. I am not in a position to say anything. Whatever I have said in public so far, please accept it as my word," he said.

The concerns raised by Singh have not been independently verified, but the issue gained political attention on 7 June when former state chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav raised questions about the alleged siphoning off of donations and called for an investigation.

In a series of social media posts, he demanded explanations from those managing donations and questioned what he described as a lack of clarity over the matter.

His party colleague Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad said the matter should be investigated by a court-monitored team. He also called for trust members to be suspended from their positions while any inquiry is under way.

Several other politicians - from the opposition as well as the BJP - also raised questions about the alleged financial irregularities.

Local BJP leader Rajneesh Singh sought an investigation into issues linked to donations and the people involved in managing them.

Meanwhile, the long-time residents of Ayodhya told BBC Hindi that they were shocked by the allegations of corruption at the temple.

"The offerings are meant for the temple's upkeep and for the welfare of pilgrims. It's not meant for people to take home," said Vijay Lakshmi.

Santosh Puri called the allegations "a fatal blow to our religion".

Talking about the claims, Ajay Kumar Varma described Ayodhya as "god's abode" and said such things should not happen here. "The people being blamed have been involved with the temple for a long time, so it's hard to believe that they could do this," he said.

BP Pandey called the allegations "a stain" on the government and the trust. "The government must ensure that there is no repeat of this sort of thing."

Meanwhile, the SIT has sought more time to complete the inquiry. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged anyone with evidence to submit it to investigators. He said the inquiry would establish the facts and appealed to devotees not to prejudge the outcome.

Adityanath added that people who had waited centuries for the construction of the Ram temple could wait a few more days for the SIT to complete its work.

But there's a growing clamour to hand over the investigation to the federal police as it's a matter involving one of India's most prominent religious institutions.

A number of petitions have been filed in the state high court and the Supreme Court asking for a police complaint to be registered and judges to supervise the investigation.

A top court lawyer has also written a letter to the prime minister, the state chief minister and chief justice, seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation "to restore the faith of the devotees".

"These were not ordinary commercial receipts, but sacred offering," he wrote. "Any diversion or embezzlement of funds constitutes a profound betrayal of the faith reposed by million s of devotees in one of the most sacred institutions of Hindu faith." (BBC)

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