Ayodhya Ram Temple: Trust invites PM Modi for bhumi pujan, construction may begin on Aug 3 or 5

Ayodhya: Prime Minister Narendra  Modi,  who is slated to lay the foundation stone and attend the Bhumi pujan for a grand Ram temple here in the first week of August, will take a final call on the exact date for the function.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust which has sent a formal invitation to the PMO, has proposed August 3 or 5 for the Bhumi pujan.

“The date could be either on August 3 or 5 as per the convenience of Prime Minister, who has in principle accepted to attend the bhoomi pujan,” Champat Rai, general secretary, Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust said in Ayodhya on Saturday after the all important meeting of the Trust members.

The Trust was interested for the bhoomi pujan on August 5 but because of the prevailing internal and external situations it has been left for the PMO to take a final call and convey the same to the Trust.

He said that PM Modi is expected to come to Ayodhya for the programme. “The PMO will finalise the date. It has given us two dates of August 3 and 5. The PMO will finalise the date depending on the internal situation in India including that of corona pandemic,” Rai said.

The grand Ram temple would be constructed within 3 to 3.5 years time and around 10 crore families would donate money for the temple, the Trust officials said.

If the PM attends the programme, it will be his first visit at the Ramjanmabhumi after he became the Prime Minister.

The proposed temple would be the tallest in Asia as it is expected to be 161 feet tall and will have five towers instead of three as decided earlier. The main temple would be constructed by Chandrakant Sompura similar to Somnath temple, while the other constructions, including construction at the periphery, would be done by the Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

L&T will also carry out soil testing for which it will dig up to 60 meter where sanctum sanctorum will be constructed, 40 meter at the main gate and 30 meter at the periphery. “Drawing of the temple’s foundation will be made on the basis of the strength of soil.” Rai said and added that the construction of the temple will be completed within 3 years of laying the foundation stone.

The meeting, which lasted for over 2 hours was presided over by the Chairman of the Trust Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and was attended by all Trust members including three through video conferencing. PM Modi’s former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra, also the chairman of the construction committee of the temple trust along with BSF’s former director general K K Sharma, the security adviser of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust were also present in the meeting.

The members also discussed the nitty-gritty about the funding.

“It was decided that the Trust will approach around 10 crore families in the country as well as aboard requesting them to donate money for the construction of the temple,” said Kamleshwar Chaupal, a trust member.

 The Ram Temple would be made of the similar stones which were used for the Somnath temple, the members decided.

According to sources in the UP Government, the proposal for a 251-metre high statue of Lord Rama along with a proposal from all concerned departments of tourism and city administration is being sent to New Delhi for immediate approval and the Prime Minister may announce it on the day of Bhumi Pujan.

On November 9, 2019 Supreme court through its historic judgement had given the entire Ramjanambhoomi land to the Hindus for the construction of the Ram temple. The Muslims were given a separate land in Ayodhya district for a new mosque.

On March 25, the day Lock Down started in the country, the idol of Ram Lalla was shifted to a temporary structure in Manas Bhawan from the present place at the Ram Janmabhoomi almost after seven decades.

The idols now were kept in the bullet proof makeshift temple till completion of the construction of Ram Temple. The new makeshift temple is around 250 meters away from the old tented temporary temple which was made after the demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6,1992.

CM Yogi Adityanath, who attended the brief religious programme, also presented a cheque of Rs 11 lakh for the construction of the grand Ram temple.

Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is also preparing to launch its countrywide reach-out programme from the first week of August to mark its foundation day celebrations. This year, the programme is likely to include a campaign for the Ram Temple.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, “On the issue of Ram Temple, we would act according to the expectations of the Trust. We organise week-long public reach-out programmes every year during Janmasthami. This year, we have left to our local units to decide the way they want to mark the occasion either through organising havana or through other events, but they have been told to maintain social distancing at the events.” (UNI)