Stone from Rajasthan, granite from Telangana: How Ram Temple in Ayodhya will have features from across the country

The BJP government is finally realising its grand ambition. The consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is scheduled for 22 January. Preparations are in full swing, and invitations have been sent to esteemed saints and prominent individuals. The under-construction grand temple is said to be “atmanirbhar” in its own way. According to media reports, it has a pan-India appeal, with inspiration from north as well as south Indian temple architecture. Not only this, its construction materials have been sourced from various parts of India. Let’s take a closer look. The pan-India architecture According to temple design and construction manager Girish Sahastrabhojini, “Ram temple has a beautiful blend of Indian architecture. It has a semblance of Dravidian architecture assimilated within the Nagara style.” While speaking to The Print, he revealed the main temple where the statue of Lord Ram will be kept is in the north’s Nagara style, while the four temples at the corners are influenced by Dravidian architecture. It has elements from the renowned south Indian shrines located in Rameshwaram, Tirupati, and Kanchipuram. The lack of land initially prevented the architects from incorporating the well-known South Indian Gopuram style of entry carving. So they chose to incorporate some of that architecture’s features to give it a more comprehensive South Indian temple appearance, according to the report.

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Construction materials from all over India According to NDTV, the main temple building is made of pink sandstone weighing 4.7 lakh cubic feet from the Bharatpur area of Rajasthan. The plinths are made of 17,000 granite stones, and the inlay work is made of coloured and white marbles, according to information received. The exquisite temple’s woodwork is made of premium teakwood that comes from the jungles of Maharashtra. The temple construction committee has focused on Chandrapur district, which is renowned for its nestled woods with premium teak, according to the Shri Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra Trust, as reported in The Times of India. According to the report, the state administration, led by Eknath Shinde, gave the temple the wood at a steep discount.

Moreover, the granite used in the building came from Telangana and Karnataka, while flooring material was sourced from Madhya Pradesh, as per The Print. Complex sandstone carvings were made by skilled sculptors from Odisha using a variety of materials from around India. Girish Sahastrabhojini told The Print, “Woodwork was assigned to an Andhra Pradesh-based company with workers from Tamil Nadu. Brassware was sourced from Uttar Pradesh, and the gold work from Maharashtra. The chief architect of the temple is a Gujarati.” About 4,000 workers were employed by construction giant Larsen & Toubro, including artisans from Rajasthan and Mysuru and local stone carvers for chiselling stones. “Currently, the first floor of the temple is fully established, along with the flooring and entrance. The sanctum where Lord Ram will be kept is also ready. The second and third floors are under construction,” the report quoted Rai as saying. No steel, iron or modern materials used No steel, concrete, or modern materials like carbon fibre or glass rods have been used in the construction of the highly anticipated temple. “When we talk about a temple lasting more than a millennium, naturally, we won’t take a trial with something that doesn’t have a proven track record. So, concrete and steel were ruled out. So what was left? We had to go back to rock,” Sahastrabhojini said in an interview with The Print. “To be precise, nothing which doesn’t have a track record of a couple of centuries has been used in the construction of the temple. Currently, I can say with confidence that the temple has a longevity of more than a thousand years.” Other features The grand temple will have 392 pillars, a 14 feet-wide “percota” periphery which will span 732 metre, Ram temple trust general secretary Champat Rai said, sharing the landscape plan with a group of journalists. He also said that a statue of Jatayu has been installed on Kuber Tila in Ayodhya. The under-construction Ram temple complex in Ayodhya will be “atmanirbhar” or self-reliant in its way with sewage and water treatment plants, and it will also have facilities to ease the movement of the elderly and the specially-abled, he said, as per PTI, adding that 70 per cent of the 70 acres of the upcoming temple complex will be green area. The complex will also feature a fire brigade post, which will be able to source water from an underground reservoir. The Ram temple complex will have a lift facility and two ramps at the entrance to facilitate elderly, specially-abled visitors.