LUCKNOW: In preparation for the upcoming consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, the Board of Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is set to select the idol of Lord Ram in his child form for consecration on January 22.
Three idols are being carved, away from the public eye. While one is being sculpted from white marble of Makrana, Rajasthan, two others are being given shape in stones sourced from Karnataka.
The Trust, in its meeting scheduled this month, will select the most attractive and tenacious of the three idols to be placed in the sanctum-sanctorum of the Ram Mandir while the two others will also be placed in the temple but at different locations.
According to temple trust general secretary Champat Rai, all 15-members of the trust had decided to select one 51-inch idol of the three at a meeting presided over by trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on October 7-8.
The Board of Trustees will also decide the place in the Ram Mandir where the remaining two idols of the Ram Lala will be placed, said Rai.
The final selection of the idols is likely to be made by the members of the temple trust in mid-December (between December 15-23), said the trust sources.
Significantly, all the three sculptors giving shape to the idols are renowned in their own might.
They have been tasked with chiselling as many idols of Ram Lala as possible, and the best will be selected to be placed in sanctum-sanctorum during the consecration ceremony on January 22, 2024.
While Ganesh Bhatt of Karnataka is carving out the idol from Nellikaru rocks (black stones) which are also known as Shyam shila or Krishna shila, the other idol is taking shape in Mysore from another rock also sourced from Karnataka. The second idol is being chiselled by famous sculptor Arun Yogiraj of Mysore.
It may be recalled that Yogiraj had carved out a 12-ft statue of Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath that was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
Yograj is the son of Yogiraj Shilpi, the famous sculptor hailing from a family of Mysore palace artists.
The 28-ft-tall black granite statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose placed at India Gate has also been carved out by Arun Yograj. It was also unveiled by PM Modi in September last year.
Similarly, in Rajasthan, the onus of carving out the idol is on Satya Narayan Pandey who is chiselling it from white Makrana marble stones.
As per the temple trust sources, Ram Lala’s idols are based on the sketch given by renowned Mumbai-based artist Vasudeo Kamath. He had presented pencil-made sketches of Ram Lala to the temple trust.
Kamath had 28 paintings of Ramayan series with global acclaim to his credit. Kamath focuses on mythology and historical subjects while painting.