Happy Monday!
It is the happiest of Mondays, being the most auspicious day when the new temple for Rama at his birthplace is being consecrated. It has been a long, long wait, and all of us are excited. It barely sinks in how we are quite literally witnessing history being made, and as I write this, I have a checkerboard of live streams from multiple news channels and have never been gladder for my three-screen setup.
The thing that has excited me the most about all of this has been watching how an iconic temple is built in the present day. It feels like an insight into history because though technology and culture have changed, the devotion of the common people has stayed the same, and the recommendations for the construction of temples from the Shastras are still the same.
Let’s start with the architects. The temple was designed by Chandrakant Sompura, of the Sompura family who have been building temples for generations. His father designed the Krishna temple at Mathura, as well as the iconic Somnath temple that was reconstructed soon after independence. Other members of the family have restored the Jain Dilwara temples in Rajasthan.
For a quick primer of facts about the temple, here’s a set of graphics by Network 18 that sum it up.
Ayodhya is right by the Sarayu River, which means its soil is fine and sandy. This makes it hard to build on top of, let alone a temple that is expected to last 1000 years. Soil was removed across the plot, to a depth of 14 metres. Then, they filled it with 56 layers of a special formula of roller-compacted concrete that was researched and prepared by faculty of multiple IITs, the Central Building Research Institute, and the National Geophysical Research Institute. Atop this foundation is a 21-foot granite plinth with rock sourced from Karnataka. The temple structure is constructed with pink sandstone from Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
The stone from which the idol of Rama at age 5 is to be constructed is a Saligrama - an ammonite fossil from the Gandaki riverbed. They are considered a representation of Lord Vishnu, and hence worshipped as sacred. Here is the story of Vishnu being cursed into becoming a Saligrama.
Nepal has sent over large Saligrama rocks to use for sculpting the idol.
The idol was sculpted by renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj of Mysore. While his father was also a shilpi, he pursued an MBA and worked a corporate job for a while. He quit to pursue sculpting, despite protests from his mother. Over the past few years, different sculptures by him went viral on social media, and then he sculpted the wonderful statue of Subhash Chandra Bose on Kartavya Path. He was one of three sculptors asked to sculpt an idol of Ram Lalla, and his was the one that was finally picked. His path is utterly inspiring.
Seeing as Janakapur in Nepal is the birthplace of Goddess Sita, they are celebrating in joy as their son-in-law returns home. A contingent of 500 from Janakpur are coming to Ayodhya with 3000 gifts.
India Post released a series of stamps commemorating the consecration of the temple. The design is based on bringing together the five elements - earth, water, fire, air, and space. For this, they have used soil from Ayodhya, water from the Sarayu river, the sun, representing the Solar dynasty of Lord Rama, and the stamps seem to be scented with sandalwood from the temple.
Thailand, whose old capital was named Ayutthaya and whose kings took inspiration from Lord Rama, has sent water and soil to be offered at the temple.
Finally, I’ve been thrilled by Dr. Bro’s wonderful videos traveling the path described in the Ramayana. He goes to every place mentioned, in sequence. I had no idea all of these places were real and had memorialized the Ramayana and get thousands of tourists every day. I mean, I knew of some, but this series has really opened my eyes about it all, and I highly recommend it.
Jai Shree Ram!
Excellent writeup. I will take my time and go through all the links slowly. I started watching the vidoes of Dr. Bro. It's so extensive! I finished watching two videos and there seem to be more. Amazing!
I would recommend the interview of Sri Nripendra Misra by Ms Smitha Prakash on the ANI podcast. He heads the Ram temple construction committee and in that interview, he explains how the temple came to be, including the funding sources. (https://youtu.be/WinnZR7SeGA?si=8HHCSTmZFl49LNzh)