LUCKNOW: The sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Temple being built in Ayodhya will be opened to devotees by the end of December 2023, sources in the Ram Temple Trust said on Wednesday.The opening of the sanctum sanctorum will take place once the idols of Ram Lalla and brothers are shifted to their final abode.
However, the construction of the entire temple complex is expected to complete only by the end of 2025, said the highly-placed sources.At present, the idols are resting inside a makeshift temple made of bullet-proof optical fiber inside the Ram Janmabhoomi premises.
As per sources in the temple trust, the ongoing work at the foundation of the temple is likely to be completed by October, this year. After that, the second phase of the work is set to start in November around the time of Diwali.The opening of the temple in December 2023 is significant as it comes months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“It is expected that the work on the foundation of the proposed temple will finish by October. All engineers and labourers involved in this work are safe & healthy,” the Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had said in a tweet last month.
The general secretary of the Temple Trust Champat Rai said the work is progressing round-the-clock in two shifts to ensure that the temple is constructed at the earliest and the pandemic does not impact the work. The temple is being built by the trust with the money collected through donations. Volunteers have collected more than `2,100 crore from 11 crore people.