Marbles from Rajasthan, gold door: What the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will look like

The construction of the ground floor of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is in the final phase and is expected to be ready by October this year. As per a statement by the temple authorities on Monday (12 June), the work on ancillary structures is also in “full swing”.

“The progress (in construction) of the ground floor of the Ram Temple was reviewed recently by senior members of the trust, including chairman of construction committee Nripendra Misra,” PTI cited the statement as saying.

Who is in charge of construction and what will the temple look like? Let’s take a closer look.

Who is building the temple?

Larsen & Toubro, an infrastructure company, is in charge of building the temple, which is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,800 crore.

According to Mint, Tata Consulting Engineers has been appointed as management consultants.

The construction work began in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya in August 2020 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for the Ram Mandir in a grand ceremony.

As per the Hindustan Times (HT) report from October 2022, around 50 per cent of the construction work of the temple is complete.

Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khestra — the trust overseeing the construction of the grand temple, said at the time: “Around 15 per cent work related to the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Mandir has been completed.”

Witness the construction progress of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Temple with a magnificent view from above. pic.twitter.com/IY2gfJjLCn

— Champat Rai (@ChampatRaiVHP) May 26, 2023

Union home minister Amit Shah had said earlier this year at a rally in Tripura that the Ram temple will be ready for inauguration by 1 January 2024.

Three-storey temple with a golden touch

The three-storied Ram temple is 380 feet in length, 250 feet in width and 161 feet high from the courtyard, as per the statement by temple authorities.

Besides the sanctum sanctorum, the temple has five mandaps – Gudh Mandap, Rang Mandap, Nritya Mandap, Prathana Mandap and Kirtan Mandap, as per the PTI report.

“The dome size of the five mandaps are 34 feet in width and 32 feet in length and height from the courtyard ranging from 69 feet to 111 feet,” the statement said.

The placement of Rajasthan’s Bansi Paharpur stone on the temple is underway.

As per an NDTV report, the temple complex will have 160 columns on the ground floor, 132 on the first floor and 74 on the second floor. The structure will use around four lakh cubic feet of stone and marble from Rajasthan, the report added.

Gold will be used to design the door of the sanctum sanctorum.

The sanctum sanctorum, which will host the idol of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram), is being carved with Makrana marble pillars, beams, ceiling and wall cladding.

ALSO READ: What are the sacred shaligram stones from Nepal to be used to make the Ram idol?

With a length and width of 20 feet each, the sanctum sanctorum will span across a total area of 403.34 square feet, reported News18. As many as 392 pillars have been “structurally provided taking into consideration the load factor and other climatic challenges”, as per the temple authorities.

“The total area of the temple, including the peripheral ‘parkota‘, is 8.64 acres. The ‘parkota‘ is 762 metres long with provision for six temples and facility of ‘parikrama‘ by devotees,” the statement added.

The temple will have 46 doors made of teak wood.

Two idols of Lord Ram will be installed in the temple, one will be Ram Lalla and the other will be a giant statue, reported Times Now.

According to the Times of India (TOI) report in April, black stones (Krishna shila) from Karnataka will be used to develop the five-foot-tall standing idol of five-year-old Ram Lalla, who will be depicted with a bow and arrow.

“Idols of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on Makar Sankranti in 2024,” Rai, who is also a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), had announced last October.

Equipped with internal and external lighting facilities, the temple will have “ground uplighter, cove lighting, spot lightings and flexible linear lighting for ghumat level”, reported News18.

The legends associated with Lord Ram will be showcased in 3D on the lower plinth of the temple, as per Times Now. Large statues of Sita, Laxman, Hanuman and other major deities from Ramayana will also be displayed across the temple, the report added.

Other facilities

The temple premises also boast of a pilgrim facilitation centre, museum, archives, research centre and auditorium.

A cattle shed, an administrative building and rooms for priests are also being built.

With inputs from agencies

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