Why new Ram Temple in Ayodhya wouldn’t need repairs before a 1,000 years

A little over four years after a Supreme Court order paved the way for the construction of Ram Temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, the first phase of the project is almost ready. It’s a Nagara-style temple, designed by a team under well-known architect Chandrakant Bhai Sompura. The temple’s primarily built of pink sandstone and carved marble from Mirzapur and Bansi-Paharpur in Rajasthan. Besides, 17,000 granite stones, each weighing 2 tonnes, have been used in it. “So far, 21 lakh cubic feet of granite, sandstone and marble has been used in the construction of the temple,” says Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. medium105867026 Built for eternityOn experts’ advice, steel and ordinary cement have not been used in the temple’s construction. The foundation, laid after consultations with IIT Chennai, is 12m deep. The soil used for refilling the foundation can get converted into stone in 28 days, and a total of 47 layers were laid in the foundation. Rai says the temple will not require any repairs for at least 1,000 years and even a 6.5 magnitude earthquake won’t be able to shake its foundation.A flight of 32 steps of height 16.5 feet leads up to temple after entrance from the Singhdwar. medium nocaption105892770Interestingly, all the bricks donated during and after the 1992 ‘Shila Daan’, and the stones brought for carving to Ayodhya’s Karsevakpuram by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the past three decades have been used in the temple’s construction.2 more phases to goConstruction committee chairman Nripendra Misra had set a December 15 deadline for completing the first phase – the ground floor where the sanctum sanctorum is situated. medium105867036The second phase, including the first and second floors, all the murals and iconography work, lower plinth and engraving on around 360 massive pillars, will be finished by December 2024. The first floor will have the Ram Darbar, and each pillar will have 25-30 figures carved on it. Seven temples of Maharishi Valmiki, Vishwamitra, Nishad, Shabri, etc, will also be built outside the parkota (outer wall) next year. In the third phase, the 71-acre site, including auditoriums and the parkota that has bronze murals and temples of Saptarishis, etc, will be completed by December 2025. medium105867042 Ram idol an enigma Before the January 22 consecration ceremony, the temple trust will select one of the three idols of Ram Lalla (5-year-old deity) being carved in secrecy at three different locations in Ayodhya. The chosen idol will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, and the public will be able to have darshan of the deity after the morning of January 27.In an interview to TOI, Misra, former principal secretary to PM Modi, had said the three sculptors of the Ram Lalla idols were invited to Ayodhya along with their choice of stone. While one brought white Makrana marble, the other two brought a greyish stone from Karnataka that’s popularly known as Krishna Shila.These and all other types of stones meant for idols were tested at the government’s National Institute of Rock Mechanics. Only then were the sculptors asked to start work.All three idols will be 51 inches tall, with a bow and arrow in hand. Together with the pedestal, the height of each idol would be around 7 feet, which, experts say, is needed for the devotees to have darshan from a distance of 25 feet.Another optical highlight of the temple is a system to divert and reflect sunlight on the idol’s forehead at 12 noon on every Ram Navami. It has been designed by the Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee and the astrophysics institute in Pune. medium nocaption105892808boxcontentGreenfield township (Rs 3,000cr): Coming up along both sides of Lucknow-Gorakhpur national highway and spread over 1,407 acres with residential, commercial, mixed-use plots. UP housing board has demarcated plots for religious bodies, ashrams, and hotels and resorts. Status | First phase being readied, set for commercial launchSewerage network (Rs 245cr): Spanning 133.5- km, at least 20,000 new houses to have proper sewage system. Status | In final stagesPublic amenities, parking (Rs 155cr): Parking lots at four locations with space for 700 four-wheelers. Shops and dormitories to be part of an integrated parking complex. Status | 3 ready, fourth in final stagesTemple Museum (estimate awaited): Suggested by PM Narendra Modi as showcase for history of famous Indian temples. Status | 50-acre plot identified near Saryu riverMega fountain park (Rs 150cr): Park with multimedia features and fountain shaped like a lotus whose petals will represent seven major rivers. Status | Tender floatedAero City (Rs 400cr): To come up near airport on 150 acres, comprising hotel complex, wedding venue and Ayurveda city. Status | Process initiated Tent City: Multiple tent cities planned to house tourists, providing luxury and budget options. Status | Work order issued for six sites Ayodhya Haat: Ghats of the Saryu to be developed with food kiosks and vending carts and attention to ensuring zero waste is generated. Status | Work order issued Sandhya Sarovar: Openair food zone with multiple restaurants, food stalls. Three lagoons/water bodies to be created with boating, ziplining, slacklining facilities. Status | Work commenced Wax Museum: To come up on 2 acres, museum will be dedicated to key characters from Ramayana and also have statues of famous personalities. Status | Work order issued Ram Heritage Walk (Rs 9.6cr): Heritage corridor over Ram Path with murals, paintings adorning over 180 walls, covering important events from the Ramayana. Status | Completion in 3 months Surya Kund (Rs 24cr): Waterbody of mythological significance has been beautified. Laser light show staged in evenings. Status | Completed Panchvati Dweep: Island to be developed in Saryu river through private participation and per ‘Arth Ganga’ scheme with only temporary structures. Status | Nod awaited from National Mission for Clean GangaCenturies-old quest to end in six weeksWhen Deven Joshi from Surat last saw the under-construction Ram Temple from behind the security fence in October 2020, only a flag marked the site of the sanctum sanctorum. Last Thursday, his second visit, a magnificent pink stone edifice stood at the spot as over 3,500 men milled around to meet the most-talked-about deadline in India’s recent history.Six weeks from now, on January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will throw open the temple to devotees with the installation of the Ram Lalla idol in the octagonal sanctum sanctorum. Modi had also laid the Ram Temple’s foundation stone on August 5, 2020. This time, he will lead its ‘pran pratishtha’ (consecration) ceremony under the supervision of Pt Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit, an 86-year-old Vedic Karmkand scholar from Varanasi.The PM will be accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. CM Yogi has been visiting the town almost every month to review the construction work. He even held a cabinet meeting in Ayodhya on November 9, the 4th anniversary of the Supreme Court verdict favouring temple construction.The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent personal invitations to over 7,000 guests, including 4,000 seers and 3,000 prominent personalities, including cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Ratan Tata, and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia, among others. medium105867058Rooms booked, tents spring upThe present temple will be closed to devotees for two days before the consecration ceremony, and it is expected that over 1 lakh people will pack the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad to attend it. Hotels, guest houses, dharamshalas and lodges in Ayodhya and places up to Lucknow are already overbooked for the second half of January, so hoteliers with rooms to spare are making a killing. To accommodate visitors, the Ayodhya Development Authority is setting up two tent cities with a combined capacity of 55,000. The first one, spread over 20 acres in Manjha Guptar Ghat, will accommodate around 25,000 people. The second in the Brahma Kund area will have space for 30,000. The temple trust is also setting up a tent city for 25,000 people in Bag Bijaise. Four venues are being developed to host various events between January 15 and January 22. Top artistes like Anup Jalota, Hariharan, AR Rahman, Kailash Kher and Shankar Mahadevan have been invited to take part during ‘Ramotsava’, the week-long celebration in the run-up to the consecration ceremony. “Besides bhajans, there will be Ram Katha, Ramlilas of various countries, cultural events based on Ramayana, and Ram Charan Paduka Yatra,” a culture department official said.medium nocaption105894583New dawn for ancient townFor the 25 lakh Ayodhya residents, January 22 means much more than the inauguration. They have endured dug-up streets, and the noise of jackhammers for a year. Their streets were pockmarked with broken houses and shops. Now, they are looking forward to a renewed town with wider roads, walkways, piped water, sewerage, efficient public transport and parking, among other urban necessities.“Our goal is to shape Ayodhya as the spiritual capital of the world with religious tourism at its core,” said additional chief secretary of the housing and urban planning department, Nitin Ramesh Gokarn. “It is going to be a city of celebrations with pilgrim-friendly infrastructure. The townships that come up in the future would be eco-friendly.”The temple inauguration on January 22 will be just the first milestone on a long transformational journey for this ancient city. medium105867075Planes, trains, realty boom: Ayodhya enters new golden ageA sleepy town until November 2019, when the Supreme Court cleared the way for temple construction, Ayodhya is rapidly growing into a city that can receive 50,000 to 10 lakh visitors in a day. Projects worth Rs 50,000 crore – airport, railway station, new township, roads, star-rated hotels – are in different stages of completion, and many more are lined up. Altogether 37 state and national government agencies and departments are collaborating on 264 different projects. For now, the focus is on works within 5km of the Ram Temple as these have to be finished by December 31.Access to temple & townThree narrow lanes that led to the temple have been turned into 4-lane roads. Of these, the 13km Ram Path that connects Sahadatganj to Naya Ghat is the longest, followed by the 2km Ram Janmabhoomi Path between Sugriv Quila and the temple. The 750m Bhakti Path from Shringar Hat to Ram Janmabhoomi is the shortest. medium105867094These three roads had a melange of government, commercial, religious and residential buildings along them. During road widening their facades were pulled down and remodelled to harmonise their look and feel. Even the streetlights and shop shutters have been designed in line with the overall theme.Visitors will be greeted by grand welcome gates at the town’s six entry and exit points. They’ll find new bus shelters, legacy stambhs (specially designed pillars), 3,500 seating platforms with planters, mosaic art on the walls, aluminium murals, and other Ramayana-themed design elements. When the new temple opens to the public on January 27, Ayodhya will have direct flights to and from Delhi airport. Built in less than three years, the brand new Maryada Purushottam Ram International Airport is modelled on the Ram Temple and will commence operations from December 15. The revamped railway station also takes design cues from the temple and will open in January. Meanwhile, NHAI is improving Ayodhya’s road links with neighbouring cities.More hotels and homesAs a global tourism hub, Ayodhya expects to have a floating population of about 1 lakh daily visitors. Where 5,000-odd pilgrims came every day before November 2019, it gets 40,000-60,000 visitors now. This had started telling on the town’s resources as, until last year, the local municipal corporation had the capacity to cater to only 35,000 households.“As an additional floating population of 1 lakh would be added to the city, it was important to renew the city. Electric buses, passenger vehicles, amenities and other resources would be added with time accordingly,” said Ayodhya municipal commissioner Vishal Singh.And because Ayodhya’s sanctity could attract senior citizens and families to have a second home here, the Uttar Pradesh housing department has launched a 1,200-acre township which will be developed in phases with a budget of Rs 3,000 crore.Private players in, rates upThe Ayodhya 2031 master plan forecasts a four-fold increase in population in a decade due to migration. So, private builders are making big investments in the town. Eight developers have taken land from Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) to build townships. Senior government officials told TOI that 2-3 applications for building hotels and guest houses are received every month and 15 of them have been approved. Altogether, ADA is looking at private investments to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore.Development projects have driven up land rates in Ayodhya and its twin Faizabad by up to 12 times, depending on the locality and its proximity to the temple. Shreyansh Singh, a 32-year-old realtor in Sahadatganj, says, “Plots for resale located 10-12km away from the temple along Ram Path now cost Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,600 per square foot. Five years back, nobody would have offered even Rs 500 per square foot for plots in these localities.”