AYODHYA: As the work on the upcoming Ram temple continues to be in full swing and the ground floor hosting the ‘Sanctum-Sanctorum’ where the enthronement of the idol of Ram Lalla will take place on Jan 22, next year, and is being given final touches, the complete temple would be an engineering marvel capable of withstanding the vagaries of climate and times for at least 1000 years, said Girish Sahasbujhini, the project engineer of the upcoming Ram temple while talking to media persons at the temple site in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
Sharing details about the resilience of the upcoming structure, Sahasbujhini claimed that the temple would be strong enough to withstand damage or deterioration with expected longevity from 1000 to 2500 years.
He said that the complete structure in its full glory would be a beautiful blend of the architecture of North and South India. Planned to be equipped with all the modern-day facilities, the final structure will
not be only the architectural wonder but every bit of it would be a story of this beguiling blend of rich cultural and spiritual oneness of India, said the chief project engineer.
“The main structure of the temple is being built following the Nagar style of architecture quintessential of north India while the rest of the smaller temples in the corner of the complex and the outer wall (parkota) of the temple complex will reflect the semblance to the Dravidian style of architecture blending both the styles of north and south beautifully,” said Sahasbujhini.
He substantiates his point by reiterating the blend of cultural and regional diversity in every aspect of the upcoming temple.
“The granite used in the plinth of the temple has been sourced from Karnataka and Telangana, the stone for superstructure has been brought from Rajasthan, and the stone for flooring has been brought from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Moreover, the craft men work day in and day out come from every nook and corner of the country,” he says adding that the iconography on the sandstones is being done by artists from Odisha, woodwork is being done by the employees of an Andhra firm which has roped in artists from Tamil Nadu to do wood carving, brassware has been sourced from Moradabad while the gold and teakwood to be used in the main structure has been sourced from Maharashtra, Gujarat has contributed in designing the temple as the man architect Chandrakant Sompura hails from Gujarat.
Talking about the challenges in the passage of construction, Sahasbujhini says that the biggest was the place itself. “One can economise the expenses on the construction by choosing the right place. Here Ram Lalla has chosen the place himself. We had to calibrate our sense of engineering to match his
expectation,” he says.
“Another challenge was to come up to the expectation of the expectations of devotees amid so much of publicity. So nothing shorter than the best had to be the order here,” says the engineer.
He also discusses the engineering challenges including the very loose soil quality and the team of engineers who had to go for the concrete fill to replace the sand present at the temple site for the foundation.
“Non-usage of steel and concrete in super-structure was beyond imagination in modern-day construction. But we are using only stone to rule out any erosion in future. So we did not go for anything that did not have the legacy of its suitability for over a millennium. Nothing which has a track record of at least a couple of centuries has been tried here,” he adds.
Earlier, briefing the media persons about details of the upcoming structure, Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai claimed that construction giant Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was engaged in the prestigious project following the commitment of its chief AM Naik to the then VHP international President late Ashok Singhal when he had approached the firm around 15 years back.
“L&T kept its promise to Ashokji and took the onus of temple construction. Notably, both L&T and Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) are doing the project voluntarily. While L&T is taking care of construction, TCE is in the supervisory role,” said Rai giving the details of other scientific and engineering institutions, including IIT-Madras, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kanpur, CBRI Roorkee, Institute of Rock Mechanics, Bengaluru, NIT Pune, involved in the project at different stages of research, construction and planning.
Divulging further details about the three-storey structure coming up over a 2.77-acre piece of land within the 70-acre Ram Janmabhoomi premises, Champat Rai said: "The temple is being constructed in a corner of the expansive Ram Janmabhoomi premises as that spot is where Lord Ram was born. It was the piece of land caught in the legal dispute." Rai said that besides the main mandir which will be three stroreyed with a total height of 380 ft from ground to spire, seven more temples dedicated to four Rishis, including Valmiki, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra and Agatsya, who existed during the era of Lord Ram and three more characters -- Nishadraj Guhu, Shabri Mata and Ahilya – also associated with his life and times will also be constructed on temple premises.
Moreover, the bird king Jatayu, who confronted Rawan during Sita Haran, has already been placed on Kuber Tila in the temple town. He added that besides making specific arrangements to provide flawless basic amenities to the devotees, the temple masterplan had provisions for a dedicated metallic road around the premises for smooth movement of fire tenders to meet any exigency.
Outer boundary wall would be built to keep the structure and visiting devotees safe and secure from monkey menace as well, he said Champat Rai claimed that the temple premises would have at least 600 trees of different varieties to create a green belt in and around the temple premises.
As far as the use of stones in the entire structure is concerned, the best possible options ranging from pure Makrana marble to pink sandstone sourced from MP and Rajasthan to granite from Telangana and Karnataka, were chosen for the temple. Around 21 lakh cubic feet of stone would be used in the entire temple structure from foundation to spire, said Champat Rai.