Ram Janmabhoomi – Design Specifications of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya

Ayodhya, is the city of Lord Ram’s birth. For years this sacred city has been attracting tourists and devotees from all over the world. The city has a number of temples and ghats which are all flocked by spiritual tourists who wish for a spiritual release in the sanctity of the holy city.

The disputed land of the exact place where Lord Ram was born i.e. Ram Janmabhoomi has had been embroiled in religious turmoil and had led to demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. The mosque was built on the same land by Mughal Emperor Babur, which was believed to be built by demolishing a previous hindu temple. From around that time, sometime around 1988-90, Architect Chandrakant Sompura has been planning the Ram Mandir Design.

However, the proposed Ram Mandir Ayodhya was being fought over by leading groups of both religions and was recently handed over to the government formed Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, after Supreme Court’s verdict in 2019. This verdict set about a domino effect and in February 2020, the Ministry allowed for the construction of the Ram Mandir Ayodhya. Its Ground Breaking ceremony took place recently on 5^th of August 2020 by Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modiji. For the ceremony, water and earth from various sacred places in India had been brought over to Ayodhya. The complete scale model of the Ram Mandir Ayodhya was unveiled during this ceremony, after which the construction has begun from the place of the Bhumi Pujan ceremony which will be the inner sanctum of the temple. The building of the temple is supposed to be finished sometime after three and half years.

With the gap of decades, there have been some changes made in the Ram Mandir Design which had been first planned back in the 1980’s. Initially, the supposed 2 storyed structure of 141ft height and 212 pillars has now been expanded and modified post 30 years of delay in the starting of the actual construction of the Temple. We are presenting below all the planned layout of the New Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Design Specifications of Ram Temple in Ayodhya:

• The temple will be a 3 storey octagonal structure built on a raised platform in the Nagarstyle architecture. Surrounding the main structure, 4 smaller temples will be constructed.
• The complete structure will have 16 feet side stairs, 5 mandaps i.e. pavilions, and an inner sanctum where the beloved ‘Ram Lalla’ i.e. infant Lord Ram will be established. 5 domes will be constructed over the mandaps, and a single temple peak / spire over the inner sanctum.
• The whole structure will be supported by 318 pillars, with 106 pillars distributed on each of the 3 floors. The temple is to be 161ft high and 140ft wide and will be spread across 100 to 120 acre of land; and will be able to accommodate 50,000 of devotees together.
• The will be carved out of stones brought in from Bharatpur, Jodhpur, and Banshi mountains in Rajasthan; and white marble brought from Makrana. A total of 1.75 lakh cubic ft. stone will be required.
• The pillars as well as stones carved out for the initially proposed Design Specifications of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be utilized in the new Ram Mandir Design. They will be enough for construction of one floor.
• The foundation of the temple will be formed with 2 lakh bricks inscribed with the name of Shri Ram, and the structure is proposed to be able to withstand an earthquake of 10 Richter scale.
• The estimated cost of the complete construction of the new Ram Mandir Design in Ayodhya is about Rs. 300 crore.

The proposed new Ram Mandir Ayodhya, along with the fact that Uttar Pradesh Government and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have proposed to turn Ayodhya into a ‘smart city’, is indicative of Ayodhya turning to be a tourism centre, not simply for Indians but for tourists from all over the world. The fact that the Ground Breaking ceremony of the temple was displayed in 3D on Times Square in New York, has got the whole world’s attention, and indicates towards a better transformed Ayodhya which we can look forward to.