LUCKNOW: A ‘time capsule’ -- carrying the history of Ram Temple and the prolonged struggle for it -- will be placed 2,000 feet beneath the proposed Ram temple site in Ayodhya during the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony.
According to Kameshwar Chaupal, one of the 15 members Shree Ramjanmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the time capsule would ensure there are no disputes in the future related to the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Chaupal, the only Dalit on the temple trust, said that the struggle for Ram Janmabhoomi, including the long-drawn case in the Supreme Court, had taught a lesson to the current and future generations.
The time capsule will carry Tamra Patra (copper plate) before it is placed under the Ram Mandir site. A time capsule is a historic cache information. It is usually used as a method of communication with future generations, and to help future archaeologists or historians.
“A time capsule will be placed about 2,000 feet down in ground at Ram Temple construction site. So that in the future, anyone who wishes to study the history of the temple, he will get the facts related to Ram Janmabhoomi, so that no new controversy can arise,” Chaupal said while talking to media persons.
Sharing more details about the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony, Chaupal claimed that soil from various pilgrimages across the country and water from the seven sacred rivers was being brought to Ayodhya for the ceremony.
“Water from sacred rivers and soil from teerthas, where Lord Ram visited, will be used during the ‘Abhisheka’ in ‘Bhoomi Pujan’. Our volunteers have been sending them from across the country to Ayodhya,” he said.
The ceremony will be telecast live and around 200 people, including seers, saints, ministers, social activists, and a few industrialists, are expected to be invited for the ceremony.
During the Bhoomi Pujan on August 5, PM Narendra Modi will lay a silver foundation stone weighing 40 kg during and launch development, tourism and infrastructure projects totalling Rs 487 crore.
On the other, PM Modi, who is expected to reach Ayodhya around 11:30 am on August 5, will inaugurate projects worth more than Rs 161 crore and lay foundation of others worth nearly Rs 326 crore.
According to the tentative programme, a silver slab weighing nearly 40 kg along with five other silver bricks named Bhadra, Rikta, Purna, Jaya, and Nanda will also be worshipped and placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the proposed Lord Ram temple by the PM. The religious rituals would be presided over by the priests from Varanasi and one Prof Vinay Pandey of Kushinagar.
The foundation of the temple is scheduled to be laid around 12.13 pm. The PM will be required to place the silver brick in the foundation in a time period of ‘32 seconds’ which is considered to be auspicious as per the astronomical calculations as it would be the same planetary equation under which Lord Ram was born.
The temple project will span about 85,000 sq ft, according to the new design prepared by chief architect Sompura brothers, which will rank it among the largest Hindu temples in the world. It will have a capacity to accommodate 50,000 devotees at a time. It is expected to boost the tourism potential of the temple town and contribute to its socio-economic development.
With temple construction in offing, the blueprint of the state government to position Ayodhya as one of the major religious tourist attractions in India, joining the league of state peers viz. Varanasi and Mathura is expected to gain further traction.