New Delhi: The new Ram temple which will be coming up at Ayodhya will pose a pertinent question. Will it be called the Ram Janmabhoomi temple or just a new Ram temple?
As experts point out, the initial Ram Janmabhoomi temple was raised to the ground along with the Babri Masjid structure. Only the idol could be retrieved and was later placed in a makeshift tent temple for prayers. The original sanctum (garbhagriha) was lost somewhere in the mud and debris which resulted after December 6, 1992 demolition.
The bhoomi pujan and foundation laying of the new Ram temple will be performed from August 3rd. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, after the bhoomi pujan lay five silver blocks to mark the foundation laying ceremony on August 5th. Initially, around 250 guests were to attend this function but now the list has been curtailed to 125 and includes the likes of L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the torchbearer of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. A 40 kg silver slab will be placed where the new sanctum sanctorum will be located.
This categorically means that this sanctum is being prepared in the absence of the original one which was believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. The holy water brought from all sacred rivers and also the soil will be poured during the bhoomi pujan and foundation laying.
The new Ram temple complex surely will be a piece of marvel. Spread over around 120 acres, this will be the third biggest Hindu shrines of the world- the first being Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia and Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. The complex will have Lord Ram temple as the main temple which will be surrounded by temples of Sita, Lakshman, Bharat and Hanuman.
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The model of the new Ram temple has been planned in Nagaraj style of architecture. It will be housed in 76,000-84,000 sq ft area. The design was prepared by Chandrakant Sompura in 1983. Sompura family had designed the Somnath temple in Gujarat and was entrusted with the job of preparing the model and also carving pillars and walls of the new temple. The initial design had an elevation of 141 ft which has been increased to 161 ft. Originally Sompura wanted 2 floors but now 3 floors are being planned to keep the design symmetrical. The temple will have one main large dome and four smaller ones.
The temple will be 300 ft long and 280 ft wide and will have five courtyards. The Goorh mandap - the closed courtyard will also house the sanctum sanctorum. This courtyard will mainly be used for darshan of the deity. Apart from this there will be Prarthana mandap, Keertan mandap, Nritya mandap and Rang mandap to accomodate visiting crowds. At any point these mandaps will be able to serve crowds between 5,000-8,000.
The temple will mainly be constructed with bansipand sandstone from Rajasthan. Atleast 1.75 lakh cubic feet of sandstone will be necessitated to build the temple. The temple will have 212 carved pillars of which more than 100 have been already carved in VHP's fully equipped workshop for the last 30 years. The work of carving these pillars has been going on in the Ayodhya workshop. These pillars will be assembled in two stages and will have carvings of Hindu deities and also ornamental designs. Says Ashish Sompura who is in charge of construction now, "The main entrance has been planned in such a way that anyone standing there can see the deity even from that distance." Sompuras believe that the Lord Ram temple will be completed in around 3.5 years.
Ram Lalla is jubilant of course. His deity will wear an attire studded with 9 valuable jewels on the day of the bhoomi pujan. The attire has been prepared by Tailor Bhagwat Pahari and will represent the "navagraha".
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