Temple Construction Committee chairman Nripendra Mishra said the temple trust would fix a date in the last week of January 2024 by when Ram Lalla would be installed in the new temple in Ayodhya. In an interview with TOI’s Rajiv Srivastava, the ex-principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi, said a blueprint has already been drawn for security cover for the entire area. A blueprint of crowd management system has also been drawn. There are separate contingency plans for 50,000, 1 lakh, 5 lakh and 10 lakh visitors, he said
Mishra said the first deadline for Ram Temple construction is December 2023 by when the ground floor would be ready where Ram Lalla would be installed. He said the temple alone is on roughly three acres of land and when the ‘parkota’ (parikrama ground) is complete, it would expand to eight acres. Besides, devotees will also spill over to the remaining areas covering 71 acres.
The temple trust would fix a date in the last week of January 2024 by when Ram Lalla would be installed in the new temple. The invitation for the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony has been sent by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to PM Narendra Modi. He is likely to give a date.
Detailing on the security of the temple complex, Mishra said: “While the state government is responsible for security, there is another level which covers the overall view of the temple, the area and information and intelligence system. This is being looked into by the Union home ministry. A blueprint has already been drawn for security cover for the entire area. They have also drawn a blueprint of the crowd management system. There are separate contingency plans for 50,000, 1 lakh, 5 lakh and 10 lakh visitors.”
Talking about the construction quality and technology involved, the former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chief said though some of the ancient temples in India are over two millennia old, there was no written record of the technology involved in the construction of these structures. “We referred the matter to our contracted partners. IIT Kanpur is working on the temple’s structural engineering, IIT Chennai mainly on the foundation, raft, and plinth. Similarly, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has done all the work on the stability of the stones with reference to earthquakes and other natural challenges. They came with certain specifications, which we have used here,” he said.
No steel was used, nor any ordinary cement. The temple is largely built of stones. The foundation of the Temple is 12-metre-deep, and the kind of earth refill used in it converts into stone in 28 days, he said. “Each layer was tested for strength before moving on to the next one. We laid 47 layers in this manner. We are now going to document a research literature based on what is being done here,” Mishra said.
Asked about any suggestions that Modi gave for use in the temple construction, Mishra said the PM was actively involved with the construction and set targets for the team. “I was always inadequate to his expectations,” he said. Mishra recalled how the PM had once told him that the temple should reflect how Lord Ram became ‘Maryada Purushottam’ when he remained in exile for 14 years. “The PM said that Raja Ramchandra became Lord Ram during exile. It was during exile that he experimented with social harmony and gave messages, which conveyed highly respected sentiments for women. He showed respect to the poor like Kewat, rishis like Vashisht and Vishwamitra and others during his exile. So, temples of Maharishi Valmiki, Vishwamitra, Nishad, Shabri, Agastya Muni, Ahilya, etc. are being constructed outside the ‘parkota’ and will be completed by 2024,” Mishra said.
“On the lower plinth of the temple, we will have murals, which are going to be carved out and the same will be around 790 running feet that will depict Ram Katha. Then in ‘parkota’ there will be murals running around 790 metres, showing Lord Ram’s journey to become ‘Maryada Purushottam’,” Mishra further added.
Mishra said the first deadline for Ram Temple construction is December 2023 by when the ground floor would be ready where Ram Lalla would be installed. He said the temple alone is on roughly three acres of land and when the ‘parkota’ (parikrama ground) is complete, it would expand to eight acres. Besides, devotees will also spill over to the remaining areas covering 71 acres.
The temple trust would fix a date in the last week of January 2024 by when Ram Lalla would be installed in the new temple. The invitation for the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony has been sent by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to PM Narendra Modi. He is likely to give a date.
Detailing on the security of the temple complex, Mishra said: “While the state government is responsible for security, there is another level which covers the overall view of the temple, the area and information and intelligence system. This is being looked into by the Union home ministry. A blueprint has already been drawn for security cover for the entire area. They have also drawn a blueprint of the crowd management system. There are separate contingency plans for 50,000, 1 lakh, 5 lakh and 10 lakh visitors.”
Talking about the construction quality and technology involved, the former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chief said though some of the ancient temples in India are over two millennia old, there was no written record of the technology involved in the construction of these structures. “We referred the matter to our contracted partners. IIT Kanpur is working on the temple’s structural engineering, IIT Chennai mainly on the foundation, raft, and plinth. Similarly, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has done all the work on the stability of the stones with reference to earthquakes and other natural challenges. They came with certain specifications, which we have used here,” he said.
No steel was used, nor any ordinary cement. The temple is largely built of stones. The foundation of the Temple is 12-metre-deep, and the kind of earth refill used in it converts into stone in 28 days, he said. “Each layer was tested for strength before moving on to the next one. We laid 47 layers in this manner. We are now going to document a research literature based on what is being done here,” Mishra said.
Asked about any suggestions that Modi gave for use in the temple construction, Mishra said the PM was actively involved with the construction and set targets for the team. “I was always inadequate to his expectations,” he said. Mishra recalled how the PM had once told him that the temple should reflect how Lord Ram became ‘Maryada Purushottam’ when he remained in exile for 14 years. “The PM said that Raja Ramchandra became Lord Ram during exile. It was during exile that he experimented with social harmony and gave messages, which conveyed highly respected sentiments for women. He showed respect to the poor like Kewat, rishis like Vashisht and Vishwamitra and others during his exile. So, temples of Maharishi Valmiki, Vishwamitra, Nishad, Shabri, Agastya Muni, Ahilya, etc. are being constructed outside the ‘parkota’ and will be completed by 2024,” Mishra said.
“On the lower plinth of the temple, we will have murals, which are going to be carved out and the same will be around 790 running feet that will depict Ram Katha. Then in ‘parkota’ there will be murals running around 790 metres, showing Lord Ram’s journey to become ‘Maryada Purushottam’,” Mishra further added.