LUCKNOW: The engraver of the first stone to be used in the construction of the upcoming Ram temple, Annubhai Sompura, will be one of the chief guests of Ram Lalla during his consecration in garbh-griha (sanctum sanctorum) in Ayodhya on January 22. Given his unique contribution to the temple movement, Sompoura has been invited by Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to be a witness to the historical event in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and other dignitaries in the temple town.
On the recommendation of the chef architect and famous sculptor Chandrakant Sompura, Annubhai, then 45, had come to Ayodhya from Ahmedabad in 1990. He had brought his brother Pradeep Sompura and son Prakash along. Since then Annubhai has embraced the temple town as his permanent abode and settled in Ayodhya where he, along with his brother and son, started carving the stones and pillars to be used in the temple whenever it would come up. Thus, the credit for carving the first ever stone for the purpose of being used in temple construction goes to Annubhai.
“After coming to Ayodhya, the then international president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and one of the most prominent faces of the temple movement, Ashok Singhal got the arrangements done for Annubhai. At present, he has been staying in an accommodation provided to him by temple trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das at Maniram Chhavni Ashram,” says a local source.
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Annubhai had started carving with just two stones. He had no machinery but started giving shape to the raw stones with the help of a hammer and chisel at a desolated place which was then surrounded by a dense forest area but now has catapulted into a full-fledged workshop for the upcoming temple.
As per the local sources, the first machine to cut the stones arrived in Ayodhya in 1996. It was followed by the deployment of a large number of heavy machines to cut stones and hundreds of artists were hired to carve these stones further.
“Initially, Annubhai, his son and his brother were the only artists chiselling the stones but gradually the number went up. At present around 150 workers from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Mirzapur and Ayodhya are working day in and day out to engrave the stones to be used in the temple,” said a local source.
Moreover, till November 9, 2019, when the Supreme Court order settling the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid title suit arrived, the carving of a whole lot of stones to be used on the ground floor of the temple was completed under the supervision and guidance of Annubhai Sompura.
Elated over the consecration of the Rama Lalla in sanctum sanctorum, Annubhai, now 78, feels that it would be the greatest moment and the biggest festival of his life when Ram Lalla will be enthroned in his abode in garbh griha. “Life has not been less than a penance to be witness to this historical occasion. My devotion will meet its finality on January 22 when Ram Lalla will move into his palace amid revelries. I don’t know how will I feel in those moments for which I have been living all this long,” wonders Annubhai with eyes welling up.