In the heartland of Hindutva, a temple triumphs

Amid a great deal of pride, work is under way to get the first floor of the Ram Mandir ready for worship by the end of 2023. But as Ayodhya tidies itself up with broader roads, a soon-to-come airport, and a new railway station preparing to receive a surfeit of visitors, some residents wonder about life and livelihood

Sooraj Yadav, 19, is one of 700 workers at the 71-acre construction site of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He has a history though that many others may not: his father, Raj Kishore Yadav, was one of thousands of  kar sevaks (volunteers) who razed the 16th century Babri Masjid in the belief that it had been built on the spot the Hindu god Ram was born. “It feels good that such a big temple is being made and I am a part of it,” he says, standing beside tower cranes, overwhelmed that he is taking what his father had started, ‘forward’.

Work on the temple began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in August 2020. In its 2019 judgment, the Supreme Court had said that the Muslim community was wrongfully deprived of its mosque. However, the religious minority did not have exclusive title and possession of the land in Ayodhya.

The aim is to finish the first storey of the main structure by the end of 2023, so people can begin worship. Mr. Yadav pats the concrete forming the steps with his screed. Once it is smooth, pink Rajasthan sandstone will cover it.

Over 13,000 cubic metres of this stone has been procured from Bansi Paharpur in Bharatpur district, and about 50% of the carving has been completed, most of it in Ayodhya itself, at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP)  karyashala (workshop). Work has been going on since 1992, the year the mosque fell and designs for a temple were drawn up.

“In 1992, when Mr. [C.B.] Sompura was contracted, the concept of the Ram Temple was not the same; it was very small then,” says Nripendra Misra, chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee, referring to the architect who runs a temple design firm in Gujarat. Mr. Sompura’s family had built the Somnath Temple in the State, as well as the Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple in Mathura.

“Everything has changed now because of the judgment of the Supreme Court,” says Mr. Misra, adding that not even in their dreams had they conceived of such a large temple. Formerly the Principal Secretary to Mr. Modi, he believes that this assignment is a “divine calling”.

Visitors can find the model of the temple in a room at Karsevak Puram, a cluster of buildings that house a variety of offices, including that of the VHP headquarters. The ‘museum’ also has a photograph of the late Ashok Singhal, who headed the VHP for more than 20 years, alongside pictures of gods and goddesses.