LUCKNOW: Amid the outcry over the seepage of rainwater and water logging in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple, where Ram Lalla was consecrated in a much-hyped ceremony on January 22 this year, the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust has come out to rebuke the claims circulating for the last couple of days.
Taking to the microblogging site X on Wednesday night, temple trust general secretary Champat Rai denied any seepage of water from the roof of the upcoming temple during recent rains in the temple town.
Clearing the air through a series of posts on its X official handle, the temple trust general secretary asserted that not a single drop of water had dripped from the roof over the sanctum sanctorum where Lord Ram Lalla is consecrated and that there was no flaw in the stone structure of the upcoming temple, which was being constructed under the supervision of the country’s ace construction companies, engineering experts from top-notch institutions, and well-acclaimed architects – Sompurias.
It may be recalled that the head priest of the Ram temple, Acharya Satyendra Das, had claimed recently that the temple roof could not endure the first rain in the city and water trickled down to the sanctum sanctorum, accumulating on its floor.
"Not a single drop of water has dripped from the roof, nor has water entered from anywhere in the sanctum sanctorum where Ram Lalla is seated," said Champat Rai in his social media posts.
Sharing further details, the temple trust general secretary said that water had dripped from a pavilion located to the east of the sanctum sanctorum, but this issue would be resolved once the roof work on the second floor of the temple was completed and a dome was added to cover the pavilion. He added that the flooring and electrification work was underway on the first floor where all the conduits through which the electric wires would go were lying open.
“It was from those conduits that the rainwater trickled down to the ground floor of the temple and from above, it appeared as though water was dripping from the roof, but it was actually coming down through the conduit pipes," posted Champat Rai, adding that not an iota of rainwater would be discharged from the temple as all of it would be recharged in the Ram Janmabhoomi premises and that facility was under construction. He also added that in the stone-structured temples, electrical conduits and junction boxes were installed on top of the stone roof. These conduits, which bring lighting to the ground floor ceiling, were made watertight and concealed within the flooring above.
Rai assured that once those works were completed, the first floor would be entirely watertight and then no water would trickle down to the lower floor. He added that the temple and its rampart complex (parkota) were designed with excellent drainage systems to prevent waterlogging. Urging people to believe only what the temple trust shares about the upcoming temple instead of those elements who wanted to spread canards, Rai said: “The temple trust remains committed to maintaining the sanctity and safety of the Ram Temple, ensuring a seamless and spiritually enriching experience for all devotees.”
Meanwhile, coming clear on the issue, retired IAS officer and temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Mishra also dispelled the allegations of seepage and water logging, saying, “I have visited the temple myself and found no truth in the claims of seepage. I want to assure all that there is no flaw either in the structure of the temple or its construction work, as twice every month engineers from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee visit Ayodhya to review the ongoing construction work of the temple. They also submit their report to the temple construction committee regularly,” he said.
