LUCKNOW: With the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya going on in full swing, Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has roped in famous sculptors from across the country for making a model of the Ram Lalla idol to be installed in the under-construction temple in Ayodhya.
The idol will be sculpted in line with depicting the deity in the form of a five-year-old child
The Trust has asked the sculptors to present their models within the next 15 days and it would choose one to be installed in the Ram temple.
Prominent among those who have pitched in for the task include Padma Vibhushan sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo and Vasudev Kamath of Odisha, KV Maniya of Karnataka and Shashtrayajya Deulkar of Pune. The idol will be 8.5x12 inches tall depicting the deity’s child form is to be installed in the upcoming temple.
According to temple trust general secretary Champat Rai, stones with a hue of sky blue and grey combined from Maharashtra, Odisha and Karnataka are under consideration for preparing the idol of Ram Lalla.
The decision to rope in renowned sculptors was taken by the temple trust after a two-day meeting of the Ram Mandir construction committee, headed by retired IAS officer Nripendra Mishra, that ended late on Thursday evening in Ayodhya.
Champat Rai claimed that the stones would be finalised only after approving the model of the deity.
As per the temple trust sources, the height of the statue will be around 8.5 feet to nine feet and it would be installed in the new temple around 35 ft away from the place provided for devotees to take the darshan in such a way that the sun rays could fall on the deity directly. The distance of 35 ft has been decided so as to make the devotees take the darshan of the deity from head to toe.
Moreover, the new temple will have two idols of Lord Ram—movable and immovable(new idol) ones. The movable idol would be taken out of the temple on particular occasions but the new one would be installed permanently, said the trust sources.
The Trust has also roped in top institutes of the country having expertise in architecture and building design to model the temple sanctum sanctorum in such a way that the sunlight falls on the forehead of Ram Lalla on every Ram Navami, the day of his birth at 12 noon. The temple trust has also set up a team of experts hailing from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, CSIR-CBRI of Roorkee and renowned temple architects for the purpose.
The Trust aims at opening the sanctum sanctorum for public darshan on the day of Makarsankranti in 2024
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