Ayodhya: Construction of foundation of Ram temple now complete, opening before 2024 Uttar Pradesh elections
A year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’, the construction of the foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been completed. Temple trust members told reporters on Thursday that the temple’s foundation has now been filled with the final, 48th layer of roller-compacted concrete.
It was the first time that the trust, tasked with building a temple at the site where many Hindus believe Lord Rama was born, had invited journalists to visit the construction site.
As per earlier reports, the site needed a strong foundation as the soil there is unstable.
The first 50 feet deep pit, 400 feet by 300 feet, was excavated. Over the months, it has been filled with 12-inch layers of compacted cement and other building materials, including small stones and fly ash.
Anil Misha, a member of the Ram Mandir Trust, said that now an afterthought will be made on this. Above it will be a plinth made of pink stone about 4 lakh cubic feet from Mirzapur. The temple will be built on this basis.
Champat Rai, general secretary of the temple trust, said that one lakh cubic feet of stone carved slabs from Bansi Paharpur in Rajasthan are ready for construction.
Discussions are also going on with experts on the construction of the outer walls of the temple complex.
The Ram Mandir Trust was set up by the Supreme Court in 2019 after settling the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, paving the way for the construction of a temple at the disputed site.
In 1992, kar sevaks demolished the Babri Masjid.
The temple is expected to be opened for devotees by the end of 2023 but the construction is likely to be completed only in 2025.
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