The Prime Minister’s Office will take a final call on the date for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the construction of Ram temple at Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya as Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust has decided that the foundation stone of the grand temple would be laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the first week of August and the construction would be completed within three years.
“The date could be either 3 or August 5 as per the convenience of the prime minister, who has in principle accepted to attend the bhoomi pujan,” said Champat Rai, general secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust in Ayodhya on Saturday after an important meeting of the trust members.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust was interested for the bhoomi pujan on August 5 but because of the prevailing internal and external situation, it left it to the PMO to take a final call and convey it to the Trust.
Rai said that PM Modi was expected to come to Ayodhya for the programme.
“The PMO will finalise the date. It has given us two dates of August 3 and August 5. The PMO will finalise the date, depending on the internal situation in India, including that of coronavirus pandemic,” Rai said.
If PM Modi attends the bhoomi pujan, it will be his first visit to the Ram Janmabhoomi 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 will be constructed by Chandrakant Sompura while the other constructions, including construction at the periphery, would be done by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The L&T will also carry out soil testing for which it will dig up to 60 metre where the sanctum sanctorum will be constructed, 40 metre at the main gate and 30 metre at the periphery. “Drawing of the temple’s foundation will be made on the basis of the strength of soil.” Rai said, adding that the construction of the temple would be completed within three years of laying the foundation stone.
The meeting, which lasted for over two hours, was presided over by Ram Mandir Trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and was attended by all members, including three through video conferencing.
PM Modi’s former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra, who is chairman of the construction committee of the Ram temple trust and BSF’s former director general KK 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 would approach around 10 crore families in the country as well as aboard and request them to donate money for the construction of the temple,” said Kamleshwar Chaupal, a Trust member.
The Ram temple would be made of the same stones which have been 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 Ram along with a proposal in this regard by all departments concerned with tourism and city administration was being sent to New Delhi for approval and the prime minister may announce it on the day of bhoomi pujan.
On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court in its historic judgement had given the entire Ram Janmabhoomi land to the Hindus for the construction of Ram temple. The Muslim too were given a separate land in Ayodhya district for a new mosque.
On March 25 last, the day lockdown 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, after almost seven decades.
The idols have been kept in the bullet-proof makeshift temple till completion of the construction of Ram temple.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who attended the brief religious programme, 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 country-wide 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.
VHP 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 Janmashtami… This year, we have left to our local units to decide the way they want to mark the occasion either through organising havan or through other events, but they have been told to maintain social distancing at the events.”