In this Sunday, November 25, 2018 photo, Hindu hardliners, one holding a sword, chant slogans against Muslim communities during a rally demanding a Hindu temple be built on a site in northern India where hardliners in 1992 had attacked and demolished a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh. Riots had left about 2,000 people dead. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, January 15, 2019 photo, sadhus, Hindu holy men, take a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India. The city's Mughal-era name Allahabad was recently changed to Prayagraj by the Hindu nationalist government. The historic city name referred to Muslim Mughal rulers during the 16th century. The new name refers to the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, the site of the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Wednesday, January 23, 2019 photo, Taj Mahal postcards are displayed in a souvenir shop in Agra, India. Despite being a UNESCO world heritage site, the mausoleum built by Muslim Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was not included as a listed attraction by the Uttar Pradesh tourism ministry in 2017. Chief minister Adityanath said foreign dignitaries should be gifted with the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu religious text, instead of a replica of the monument. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, January 15, 2019 photo, a sadhu, a Hindu holy man, pours water from a shell as he takes a ceremonial cleansing dip at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, November 25, 2018 photo, Hindu hardliners visit a memorial dedicated to the Kothari brothers and other Hindus killed during riots in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Monday, January 14, 2018 photo, people stand near a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India. The government spent unprecedented sums on the heavily-attended Hindu Kumbh Mela festival, with Modi and the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, himself a Hindu monk, appearing in countless posters. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Wednesday, December 12, 2018 photo, cows rest in a barn at Baghambari Math Gaddi in Prayagraj, India. Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and slaughtering them or eating beef is illegal or restricted across much of the country. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, November 25, 2018 photo, Hindu hardliners gather next to building materials to be assembled in a temple dedicated to Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, December 4, 2018 photo, relatives cry next to the body of police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in Chingarwathi, near Bulandshahr, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The previous day, Singh and another person were killed in the mob violence that began with accusations of cow slaughter in the area. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, January 22, 2019 photo, a man holds a phone showing a video of Muslim farmer Saghir Khan, 25, moments after being beaten, Mirzapur, India. Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people. Hindus make up about 80 percent of the population. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Monday, November 26, 2018 photo, moviegoers stand as national anthem is played at a cinema before the screening of a movie in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. As with similar movements across the world, Hindu nationalism, once fringe, has now taken a central place in India’s politics. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Wednesday, December 12, 2018 photo, Hindu students of the Baghambari Math Gaddi have lunch in Prayagraj, India. As with similar movements across the world, Hindu nationalism, once fringe, has now taken a central place in India’s politics. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, November 25, 2018 photo, a man holds a brick reading “Jai Shree Ram” (Victory to Lord Ram) as bricks of the old Babri Mosque are piled up in Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, December 11, 2018 photo, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gather during an early morning shakha, a daily training, in Prayagraj, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, November 25, 2018 photo, a Hindu hardline supporter applies saffron to his forehead in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. As with similar movements across the world, Hindu nationalism, once fringe, has now taken a central place in India’s politics. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, December 9, 2018 photo, a supporter of Hindu-extreme political group Vishwa Hindu Parishad wears a poster of the Hindu god Ram during a rally in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Tuesday, January 22, 2019 photo, the wife of Saghir Khan,Anisa Khan, holds their daughter, Alfisa, at the family's house in Mirzapur. Saghir was beaten by a group of Hindus after being spotted transporting cows. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this Sunday, December 9, 2018 photo, a supporter of the Hindu nationalist political group Vishwa Hindu Parishad is dressed as the Hindu deity Hanuman during a rally in New Delhi, India. Tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in India's capital to demand construction of a Hindu temple on the ruins of a disputed 16th century mosque in northern Indian city of Ayodhya. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)





In this March 22, 2019, photo, trash is strewn on the banks of river Ganges, in Varanasi, India. Modi promised to clean up the Ganges, but gray water continues flowing not far from the banks where crowds of devotees and tourists converge for a nightly prayer. In the Indian city considered the center of the Hindu universe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commissioned a grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 22, 2019 photo, people cover their noses as they walk past trash strewn on a street, in Varanasi, India. A project in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi dreamed up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows the master political marketer's penchant for symbolism as political strategy in elections that begin this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019, photo, funeral pyres burn on the banks of river Ganges, in Varanasi, India. According to ancient practice, funeral pyres burn constantly, with the debris and ash shoveled into the river. In the Indian city considered the center of the Hindu universe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commissioned a grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019, photo, 17th-century Gyanvapi mosque, white structure sandwiched between Hindu temples, is seen in the background as Hindu devotees walk at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. And some Varanasi Muslims fear the project could embolden Hindu hard-liners who have demanded for decades that the 17th century Gyanvapi mosque – which they claim was built over an earlier Vishwanath temple demolished in the Mughal era – should itself be torn down. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019 photo, a woman watches from her window as a worker demolishes a house at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. The $115 million promenade is just one of a number of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's religious glamor projects, aimed squarely at pleasing his Hindu nationalist base ahead of elections that start this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019, photo, devotees and tourists watch as Hindu priests perform daily rituals in reverence for river Ganges on its banks, in Varanasi, India. A project in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi dreamed up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows the master political marketer's penchant for symbolism as political strategy in elections that begin this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019, photo, locals walk past workers demolishing a house at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. A project in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi dreamed up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows the master political marketer's penchant for symbolism as political strategy in elections that begin this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019, photo, workers demolish a house at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. A project in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi dreamed up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows the master political marketer's penchant for symbolism as political strategy in elections that begin this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019 photo, a Hindu man prays next to a small temple uncovered hidden within the wall of demolished buildings at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. The demolition of around 300 commercial and residential buildings between the temple and the river have left a gaping hole in Varanasi's urban core, a congested maze of zig-zagging brick lanes full of religious shrines. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 22, 2019, photo, Hindu devotees stand in queue in a narrow lane to enter into Vishwanath temple, in Varanasi, India. In the Indian city considered the center of the Hindu universe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commissioned a grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old Vishwanath temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)





In this March 19, 2019 photo, Hindu devotees walk barefoot through debris of demolished houses to reach river Ganges at the site of a proposed grand promenade connecting the sacred Ganges river with a centuries-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, India. The $115 million promenade is just one of a number of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's religious glamor projects, aimed squarely at pleasing his Hindu nationalist base ahead of elections that start this month. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)