Construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is on in full swing for opening it to devotees in January next year. According to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the idol of Lord Rama will be consecrated in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in January and devotees will be able to pay visits and offer prayers. Atrust official said construction of the temple, which will have three floors, would be completed by 2025. The ground floor will be entirely ready by December this year as also the structure of the first floor. According to the trust, the Ram temple will have a length of 380 feet, width of 250 feet and height of 161 feet. The sanctum sanctorum will be spread over 20 feet. Over 500 workers and engineers are engaged in construction of the ground floor, where carving work on the pillars is also underway. An official said 160 pillars had been built and all five proposed mandaps—gudh mandap, rang mandap, nritya mandap, prathana mandap and kirtan mandap—of the temple were ready. Anil Mishra, member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said devotees will be able to see the idol and offer prayers at an auspicious time after Makar Sankranti in January. “Arrangements are being made so that the rays of the sun fall on the Lord’s forehead on the first Chaitra Ram Navami. About 300-400 people will be able to have darshan of Lord Ram at any given time,” he said.Kameshwar Chaupal, another member of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said: “There are five pavilions on the ground floor, with the mandap as the central attraction. The ground floor structure is ready. The walls and roof of the sanctum sanctorum have been built. Flooring and exterior work is yet to be done. The carving of idols on 166 pillars on the ground floor is on.” Work on the Ram temple began in 2020 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the ground-breaking ceremony in August. Construction of the temple has been a key agenda of the BJP and the Modi government and its inauguration in January will be a highly-watched event, especially in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
