Ayodhya Ram Temple to be a marvel of modern technology and ancient heritage

The Ram temple is to be ready by December 2023 for darshan. Garbhagriha with the idol of Ram Lalla would be thrown open at the sprawling 110 acres Ram temple complex that is coming up at Ayodhya. Sources informed that the entire temple complex would be completed only sometime in 2025. 

Substantial progress made 

Within a year of the foundation laying by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5 last year, the most difficult part of creating a stable base on which the massive temple structure would come up is nearing completion. “Due to the history of the place, the soil was highly unstable with deep layers of debris presenting an engineering challenge. The first few months went into studying the soil and finding the best way possible to create a stable base for the temple to stand upon,” informed sources. 

Challenges 

The land had to be first excavated and was dug 15 meters (45 feet) deep to clear it of debris and unstable soil, which is roughly four floors underground. To understand the scale of the operation, a total of 70 lakh tons of soil was removed from the site with between 100 and 140 trucks moving every day. 

The trust decided that keeping in mind ancient heritage, the temple would have stone architecture. Keeping this in mind, an experts committee was tasked to find material that could be a good substitute to stone so far as the dug-up base is concerned. The experts came up with fly ash and concrete-based formula of a compressed engineering mix that would be used to fill the excavated site. The material was tested at the civil engineering labs of IIT Chennai for strength and approved by Central Building Research Institute (CBRI). By a process of layering – each layer of 8 inches and 44 such layers – the entire excavated site has been filled with the engineering mix and would be ready by September for the base on which the plinth would stand. The strength of the foundation has been found to be enough to withstand nature’s vagaries including earthquakes for centuries altogether. 

Science 

Two agencies carried out soil investigation for testing structural stability. Simultaneously, CSIR-NGRI undertook a study for the paleochannel and earthquake hazards. Institutes like IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras, IIT-Guwahati, CBRI-Roorkee, SVNIT-Surat were involved in the studies. 

Ancient aesthetics, Modern Technology 

Apart from the aggregate mix for the excavated base, only stone from Rajasthan’s Bansi pahad area would be used for the entire temple structure. There too the Trust faced a challenge as the National Green Tribunal had put a temporary ban on quarrying at the site. This caused some delay, but thankfully the issue was sorted with the Supreme Court lifting the ban and stone procurement starting in right earnest. Also, deferring to the sentiments of the Ram temple movement, the stone pillars that have been in the making for the last three decades would get suitably incorporated in the new structure. Another decision taken by the Ram temple trust was to not use steel in any manner deferring to the ancient heritage of designs. Thus, the joining of stone pillars of the temple would be achieved using copper. Another ancient aesthetic that is to be included in the design is that on the day of Ram Navami the sun rays would fall directly on the deity at noon time. This is a feature that already exists in many historical temples across India including the Sun temples at Modera (Gujarat) and Konark (Odisha), and a team of scientists and astronomers has been consulted to get this ancient scientific heritage of Indian culture incorporated. 

The multi-objectives temple complex 

The Ram temple complex would have multiple facilities for the pilgrims, devotees, sadhus, and sants, and arrangements are being made to manage a pilgrim flow of up to 5 lakhs per day during festivals like Ram Navami. Ayodhya is likely to become a new pilgrimage center for devotees from across the country, and entire infrastructure in and around the temple complex would be developed keeping in mind the number of visitors. To make space available for all the infrastructure, the temple trust is in the process of acquiring over 40 acres of additional land apart from the 67-acres that was acquired after the Supreme Court order of November 2019. Apart from the main temple, the complex would have administrative blocks, archives centre, a research centre, and facilities for sadhus and sants, apart from pilgrims.

Museum of Ramayana 

A state-of-the-art museum on Lord Ram’s life and times, including the contemporary status of the spread of the story of Ram around the world would be a unique feature of the Ram temple complex. A committee headed by famous supercomputer scientist Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, assisted by the department of science and technology, is working on a museum that would incorporate hi-tech gadgetry to appeal to the younger and global audiences. It would showcase the global reach and impact of the Ramayana and Ram Katha through the use of digital technology. 

Story of Lord Ram 

The walls, pillars, and other areas of the Ram temple complex would have carvings telling various stories from the life of Lord Ram. A committee of saints is deciding which stories should be engraved in which part of the temple. Swami Sachidanand Joshi led committee has been tasked to make suggestions, apart from the VHP, and a final call would be taken by the Ram Temple Trust.

Enough money 

Since the Trust opened donations for the construction of the temple last year, upwards of Rs 3,000 crores have already been collected – all of which is in the Trust’s bank account. This is already way above the Rs 900-1,000 crores that would be needed for the construction of the Ram temple, sources informed. All of this money has come entirely from within India, as the Trust does not have FCRA clearance for foreign donations yet. An application has been made with the Union Home Ministry a couple of months ago, and the software firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been tasked with creating software for donations that would generate instant receipts for tax and other purposes.

(Image Credits: Ram Mandir Ayodhya-Insta/PTI)