In a momentous development, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone of Ram Mandir’s Garbhagriha in Ayodhya on Wednesday.
The chief minister performed pooja of Garbhagriha and put cement on the stones during the foundation stone laying ceremony. He also offered prayer at Hanuman Garhi temple nearby before attending an event.
Later speaking to reporters, Yogi Adityanath said:
“The construction work of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was started by PM Modi almost 2 years ago. The work is successfully proceeding and we are fortunate that the ritual of keeping the stones in the Garbhagriha has been initiated today”.
While providing details of the event, Acharya Raghavacharya spoke to Republic TV and said, “Today is a significant day for us. We are very happy to witness this day”.
Explaining the construction process, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of Ayodhya Ram Mandir construction committee, UP told ANI, “Work on the superstructure begins today. We have a 3-stage time frame (for completion of works) – Garbhagriha by 2023, temple construction by 2024 end, and main constructions at the temple complex by 2025”.
The “Pran Pratishtha” program will continue till June 4, 2022.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, which is heading the temple’s construction issued a statement last week mentioning that white marbles from the Makrana hills of Rajasthan would be used in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The Ram temple trust said the total stone volume to be used for the temple project included eight to nine lakh cubic feet of carved sandstone, 6.37 lakh cubic feet of uncarved granite, 4.70 lakh cubic feet of carved pink sandstone for the temple, and 13,300 cubic feet of Makrana white carved marble for the sanctum sanctorum.
Earlier in August 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the foundation stone laying ceremony or ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the temple after which its construction had started.
The temple is expected to be ready just before the 2024 general elections.
