Ayodhya Ram Temple construction likely to be delayed: BJP MP

With the lockdown in place, movement of workers has stopped, which has led to construction work of the Ayodhya Ram Temple to be halted. But the workers will continue to receive their salary, local BJP MP Lallu Singh said.

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): With almost the entire world coming to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work at Ayodhya has also taken a hit, with the construction of the new Ram Temple set to be delayed, local MP Lallu Singh said on Thursday.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Singh, who is the BJP MP from Faizabad (Ayodhya), said that though the construction work might get delayed by several months due to the virus outbreak, workers will continue to get their salary during the entire course of the lockdown.

With the movement of workers shut, the construction work has been halted.

Singh said that other than the Ram Temple, renovation work was also underway at the Manas Bhawan, which has been shut for the past 28 years and is in a dilapidated condition, on a war-footing.

As far as the current state of the temples are concerned, Singh said that with the lockdown in place, all temples are having onle one 'aarti' and are then shutting for the day.

Read:Friday prayers suspended across country amid lockdown

Earlier yesterday, the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya was shifted to a temporary new location at a ceremony attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who faced opposition flak for seemingly violating norms meant to beat coronavirus.

The shifting of the idol clears the site to begin construction of a Ram temple.

The idol was placed on a 9.5-kg silver throne at the new structure, where it would remain till the construction of the Ram temple is completed on the site allotted for it by the Supreme Court in a landmark verdict in November.

(With inputs from PTI)