Ayodhya, 11 May: A total of 1,100 people are working around the clock constructing pillars and arches, carving relief, and polishing surfaces on the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The three-story temple site in Ayodhya is being built at breakneck pace. The temple complex spans 70 acres. Kilns have delivered bricks with specific stamps to the temple building site. The temple’s main building is built on 2.77 acres of “engineered soil” that is 15 metres deep. Sculptors from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Balasore have been brought in to work on the columns, pillars, and arches.
Veteran administrator Nripendra Mishra, who leads the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s building committee, visits the site four days a month and has review sessions every Saturday.
The temple will be finished in three stages. The first phase, which is anticipated to be finished by December 2023, consists of the seven temples (centred on Ram) and the ground level, lacking the iconography. The second phase covers the temple’s first and second floors, which are projected to be completed by December 2024. The entire facility is scheduled to be finished by 2025.
Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s building committee, stated that the temple is being constructed and built to endure 1,000 years. He stated that the entire procedure is being recorded as a pattern for future engineers.
A rishi-muni complex of seven temples; 98 murals on the lower plinth depicting key events as described in 98 shlokas from Valmiki’s Ramayana; the 51-inch Ram Lalla (aged 4-5 years) standing on a lotus; and a perimeter of 730 metres with a temple on each of its four corners and a gopuram (a monumental tower at the entrance of a temple that is unique to temple architecture in the south). Odisha craftsmen have been tasked with carving figures in the niches left on the sides of the pillars going to the sanctum sanctorum. There will be five mandaps – open areas – surrounding the sanctum sanctorum, and the shikhar above the sanctum sanctorum will be 161 feet and 10 inches tall.
There is no word on whether cellphones will be permitted inside the shrine. While the police are opposed to allowing cell phones inside the shrine due to security concerns. Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s building committee, believes phones should be permitted because a devotee’s visit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
