Ayodhya’s Babri mosque was razed to the ground on December 6, 1992 by a raging mob of Hindu activists who claimed that the site of the mosque was Lord Rama’s birthplace. Riots broke across India soon after the incident, killing over 2000 people.

Babri is a wound that the country is still nursing. Almost 25 years later after the incident, Ayodhya finds itself at the eye of the storm again with the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. We bring you the many sides of the incident through a series of stories.

Here is a description of what happened on the day through a series of photographs:

b’A modified version of an Uttar Pradesh map, showing the location of the Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi | Source: WikiCommons’
Indian Express
b’Kar Sewaks at the site. According to Mohammad Iqbal Ansari, litigant, Babri Masjid Case, kar sevaks had started thronging the site from December 1 xc2xa0| Source: Reuters’
b’Kar Sewaks destroying the mosque. According to Muslim litigants hundreds of Muslim families fled their home that week | Source: Reuters’
b’Kar sewaks destroying the masjid | Source: AFPxc2xa0′
b’Kar sewaksxc2xa0celebrating after the demolition | Source: AFP’
Indian Express| R K Sharma)
Indian Express
ndian Express| Praveen Jain

Here are our other Ayodhya Stories 

I Was There When Babri Masjid Was Razed To The Ground & This Is What Shocked Me The Most

Why Ayodhya Is Still A Divided City

The Many Voices Of Ayodhya, A City Stuck In Time

(Feature image source: PTI)