LUCKNOW: The preparation is on to commence the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya after September 17 which marks the end of a fortnight-long ‘Pitra Paksha', according to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s general secretary Champat Rai. Pitra Paksha refers to the period when Hindus express gratitude to their ancestors.
Rai said heavy machinery to be used in foundation laying and construction of temple has started reaching the Ram Janmabhoomi premises.
To make way for heavy machines to reach the temple site, scores of big and small temples lying dilapidated without ‘puja’ and ‘bhog’ for years due to ongoing dispute over the birthplace on Janmbhoomi premises have been razed to the ground.
One of the famed temples demolished to clear the way for the machines included over 300-year-old ‘Sita Ki Rasoi’ (Sita’s kitchen).
According to Champat Rai, the scores of temples on Ram Janmabhoomi premises, the land of which was acquired by the Centre 30 years ago, had turned into ruins. “The temples had become so decrepit and rickety that it was dangerous to enter them,” said Rai.
The other temples demolished in the process are Sakshi Gopal, Kohbar Bhawan, Ram Khazana, Anand Bhawan, and Manas Bhawan. “However, the sanctum sanctums of all the demolished structures were preserved to be pedestalled after the construction of respective temples on Ramjanmbhoomi complex,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the heir apparent of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
Rai said country’s leading construction company Larsen and Toubro was all set to lay the foundation for the grand temple, which would come up in 12,879 sq metre area on Ram Janmabhoomi premises.
The company will carry out construction without charging any fee. The temple edifice would stand on around 1,200 pillars which would be placed below the temple surface around 100 feet under the ground to prepare the temple’s foundation.
These pillars would be of stone and no iron will be used. Again on these pillars, another layer of foundation will be laid.
The sources claimed that the construction company has been sourcing the machines from Mumbai and Hyderabad. Initially, the trust is expected to engage around 100 labourers to lay the foundation of the temple.
Moreover, the key sources in the temple trust claimed that the raw material to be used in construction would be sourced from the forests of Bundelkhand where Lord Ram spent the maximum time of his 14-year in exile.
However, a high-level meeting involving UP Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state administration is likely to be held on Tuesday to finalise the blueprint for a security blanket to be thrown around Janmabhoomi complex during the construction of the temple.
Earlier last week, the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) had approved two layouts -- one of Ram mandir and another of the entire Ram Janmabhoomi campus. The ADA had handed over the layouts to the trust on September 4 after it received the requisite fee of Rs 2.11 crore in the development authority’s bank account.
The proposed Ram mandir will be 360 feet long, 235 feet wide and 161 feet high with five domes.
According to the trust, the temple’s foundation will be laid by using modern techniques so that it could withstand any calamity like an earthquake for over 1,500 years and its structure for 1,000 years.
Experts from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, and IIT Madras have been roped in to make the temple’s foundation strong so that it can withstand earthquakes and storms.
On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Ram mandir ending decades-old Ayodhya title dispute. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the temple during the groundbreaking Bhoomi Pujan in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020.