Ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony of the foundation stone-laying of Ram temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday, the temple trust, Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra on Tuesday shared images of the proposed model of the grand temple. In a Twitter post, the Trust described the temple as “a unique example of Indian architecture”.
Chandrakant Sompura, the architect of the grand temple, had stated that the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be almost double the size of what was originally proposed after its design was modified following the Supreme Court verdict last year.
“The design of the temple was modified after the Supreme Court verdict. Now it will be almost double the size of what was originally planned,” Sompura told news agency PTI.
Sompura added that the temple will be constructed in Nagara style of architecture and will have five domes instead of two. The project is likely to be completed in the next three years once the construction work commences following the bhoomi pujan event on Wednesday.
Last November, the Supreme Court paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the site in Ayodhya.
Police barricades, yellow banners, walls with a fresh coat of paint and the sounds of bhajan mark parts of Ayodhya as the city awaits its big day tomorrow, when the first brick will be laid for the Ram temple.
Ayodhya is decked up for the bhoomi pujan that will be attended at the Ram Janmabhoomi by 175 people, who figure in a select guest list of seers and politicians topped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Concerned over the spread of coronavirus, the authorities are encouraging others not to come to the temple town, asking them to mark the occasion by celebrating at their homes. The groundbreaking ceremony will be telecast live.
Roads leading to Ayodhya display hoardings with the picture of the proposed Ram temple and of Ram Lalla, the infant Ram, the deity now housed in a makeshift temple.
Around the town’s Hanumangarhi area – named after a well-known temple which Modi will visit on Wednesday – both police sirens and ‘bhajans’ in praise of Ram are heard.
The city’s temples and mosques will remain open, but no other religious event – except for the bhoomi pujan – will take place on Wednesday.
The prime minister is scheduled to be in the temple town for around three hours on Wednesday. According to the official itinerary released on Tuesday, PM Modi will start from Delhi at 9:35 am and will reach the Ram Janmabhoomi site at noon. The main programme of Bhoomi pujan will begin at around 12:30 pm. After the ceremony, the prime minister will return to Lucknow at 2.20 pm.
