Narendra Modi has taken the oath of office and has been sworn in for a third term as India's prime minister.

He will lead a coalition government after his Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, failed to win enough seats in the general election to govern alone.

Thousands of guests attended the inauguration at Delhi's presidential palace, including the heads of several neighboring countries.

Our South Asia correspondent, Yogita Lame, reports from Delhi.

I, Narendra Damodar Das Modi.

An oath that Narendra Modi is more than familiar with.

But what follows is uncharted territory, a weakened prime minister dependent on a coalition for the first time.

There are hundreds of pictures of Mr. Modi all over Delhi today, and it's something we've gotten used to here in India over these past 10 years.

This picture's been on welfare schemes, on vaccine certificates.

So that doesn't seem to have changed.

But what has is that while this is a win, it's a victory that feels like a defeat for Brand Modi.

The aura of invincibility that has come to surround him has been damaged.

And clues to why some voters turned away can be found here in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.

It was considered to be a stronghold of Mr. Modi's BJP, but it delivered the biggest shock.

In a predominantly Hindu village in Muzaffarnagar, we met men who've traditionally supported the BJP.

But not this time, says Shyam Singh, who has four postgraduate sons who are unemployed.

Since four years, they have been searching for jobs, but there are no vacancies.

The government talks about development, but we can't see it happen on the ground.

Price rise has gone beyond limits.

It's tough to put food on the table.

People had blind faith in Modi, but now they've opened their eyes to the reality around them.

A Hindu temple opened by the prime minister ahead of the election was expected to galvanize votes like these for the ruling party.

Temples are a matter of faith, but to feed ourselves, we need work.

Just opening temples doesn't help us.

In another part of the constituency, we met people from India's Muslim minority, who had found themselves to be the target of an overtly divisive campaign by the BJP.

When the results came in, we were happy, because we were worried that if they came to power with full majority, they would make laws that would discriminate against minorities.

A leader who's achieved an almost godlike status for his followers has been brought down to earth by the will of India's voters.

For Mr. Modi, keeping his allies together will be the test of a new skill.

Yogatala Mahe, BBC News, Delhi.