Who is Chandrakant Sompura, the visionary architect behind the Ram Temple in Ayodhya?

We are just two days away from the grand Ram temple opening in Ayodhya. The consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla’s idol will take place at the temple, which has been designed by a team under renowned architect Chandrakant Sompura. It took more than three decades for Sompura to make his dream a reality. Here’s all we know about him and his amazing journey. Who is Chandrakant Sompura? Chandrakant Sompura is an Ahmedabad-based chief architect of the Ram temple. As per a Times Now report, he is the 15th generation in his family of temple architecture designing business. He has designed around 130 temples, including the Ambaji temple in Palanpur and the Swami Narayan temple in Gandhinagar, as per News9. The Sompuras have played a significant role in influencing Indian architecture. The family has a centuries-long tradition and was instrumental in the building of more than 200 temples across the country. According to CNBC-TV18, it was Sompura’s grandfather, Prabhashankar Sompura, who designed the revived Somnath temple in Gujarat’s Prabhas Patan in 1949. The long list of temples to their credit also includes the Akshardham temple complex in Gujarat, the Swaminarayan mandir in Mumbai, and the famed Birla Mandir in Kolkata. Ram temple construction About 32 years ago, Sompura was contacted by the then Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief, Ashok Singhal through the Birla family to come up with a design for the Ram temple. The 81-year-old then first visited the site with Ashok Singhal to recce the land. “We met and discussed the construction of the temple and had to go to Ayodhya to recce the land. With so much security present, I had to disguise myself as a devotee and measure the area with footsteps to make the masterplan,” Sompura told Outlook magazine. [caption id=“attachment_13598052” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple will be held on 22 January. Image Courtesy: @ShriRamTeerth/X[/caption] However, the design of temple of the Ram temple was later modified in 2020, aligning with Vastu shashtra and Shilpa shastras, as per Republic World. In an interview with Indian Express, the Sompuras discussed the challenges of technological integration among their family of traditionally trained architects, saying, “We feel we were the chosen ones” for this task. This will be the “first temple in the world,” according to his 51-year-old son Ashish, to have undergone a 3D structural analysis before construction to ensure that it would withstand earthquakes up to an eight on the Richter scale. In order to guarantee that “whatever calamity strikes, nothing will happen to this temple,” the structural analysis was carried out by the Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee. “It is 20 feet higher than the highest flood level (recorded till now),” he said, while adding, “The other unique feature of the temple will be the ‘surya tilak’, where lenses will be provided on the roof (shikhar) to ensure the Sun rays fall on the “forehead of the idol on the day of Ram Navami.”

#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Ayodhya Ram Temple's Chief Architect Chandrakant Sompura gives details on its architecture.

He says, "The design is the same as it was earlier. After the decision of the court, we added three more mandapas and increased its height. The temple is… pic.twitter.com/b28wc0OZdI

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024

The Sompuras explained that the temple was constructed using a traditional interlocking stone process and that Larsen & Toubro, the company that was awarded the contract, had to be persuaded of this method, according to the daily. The architecture of the temple The temple is 161 feet tall, 380 feet long (east-west), and 250 feet wide, all in the traditional Nagara style. The high pyramid-shaped Shikhara towers in the temples are topped with Kalash. The Ram Mandir, according to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth, is three floors high, with 20 feet of height on each floor. There are 44 doorways and 392 pillars overall. The temples’ walls are adorned with sculptures and reliefs, and their pillars are carved with intricate designs. Statues of deities, gods and goddesses cover the walls and pillars. [caption id=“attachment_13568412” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A staffer at a manufacturing unit displays a model of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, at Faizabad in Ayodhya district. PTI[/caption] The deity is housed in the innermost sanctum of the temple, the Garbhagriha. The childhood form of Lord Ram, the idol of Shri Ram Lalla, is located in the main sanctum sanctorum, and there will be a Shri Ram Darbar on the first floor. The temple is divided into five Mandaps, or Halls: the Rang Mandap, Sabha Mandap, Kirtan Mandap, Nritya Mandap, and Prarthna Mandap. The Mandir is accessible from the east by the 32-stair Singh Dwar ascend. Ramps and lifts are available for the comfort of the elderly and those with physical limitations. The Mandir is surrounded by the Parkota, a rectangular compound wall of 732 metres in length and 14 feet in breadth. There are four Mandirs at the four corners of the complex, one each for Surya Dev, Devi Bhagwati, Lord Ganesh, and Lord Shiv. Maa Annapurna’s temple is located in the northern arm, whereas Hanuman ji’s temple is located in the southern arm. There is a historic well (Sita koop) close to the mandir that dates back to the ancient era. Proposed mandirs dedicated to Maharshi Valmiki, Maharshi Vashishtha, Maharshi Vishwamitra, Maharshi Agastya, Nishad Raj, Mata Shabri, and the revered consort of the Devi Ahilya are located within the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir complex. In the southwestern part of the complex, at Kuber Tila, the ancient Mandir of Lord Shiv has been restored, along with the installation of Jatayu. The consecration ceremony of the temple Ayodhya is currently celebrating Amrit Mahotsav, which started on 14 January and will go on till 22 January, the day the consecration ceremony will be held. As part of the celebrations, 1,008 Hundi Mahayagya is organised and thousands of devotees will be fed, according to ANI. The process for the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla (infant Lord Ram) started on 16 January, while Pandit Laxmikanth Mathuranath Dixit, a Vedic scholar from Varanasi is leading the rituals. While speaking to the Indian Express, Sompura said that he would not go for the consecration because of “health reasons” but wishes that the temple, when complete, “should open to people from all faiths.” With inputs from agencies